Graphic Novels and Children’s Literacy: Why They Belong on Every Bookshelf
- David Salariya
- Apr 4, 2025
- 10 min read
Updated: Mar 19
Ditching the Snobbery and Embracing Visual Learning
As a parent, teacher, carer and reader to children, you want to feel confident about the books your children are reading – both in terms of content and age-appropriateness. When it comes to graphic novels, however, there’s often a flicker of doubt. Is this “proper reading”?
"Do they have any real educational value?" ( Remember that reading should be about enjoyment too!)
The short answer is: absolutely. Graphic novels are not only "proper reading" – they're powerful, multi-layered tools for nurturing literacy, critical thinking, and creativity. Whether your child is an advanced reader or someone still finding their footing, graphic novels and comics offer a rich, rewarding, and relevant reading experience.
What Is a Graphic Novel?
Graphic novels and comics often get confused – and while they’re close cousins, they’re not quite the same thing. Comics are typically shorter, serialised, and released in issues (like monthly magazines), whereas graphic novels are longer, self-contained narratives – essentially, full-length books that use comic-style storytelling.
Purists – the kind who frequent Comic Con and know the difference between a splash page and a panel gutter – might argue over the finer distinctions. But for most readers, the main point is this: both formats tell stories through a combination of words and images, and both deserve respect.
Let’s start by clearing up the confusion. A graphic novel is a book-length narrative told through sequential art, combining illustrations and text to tell a story. They span genres – fiction and non-fiction – and formats, from adaptations of classics to memoirs and original works.
They are not just comics, though they share DNA. The main difference? Graphic novels are typically self-contained or part of a long-form series, with more developed plots and themes. They use a cinematic structure, layering dialogue, pacing, and visuals much like a film, often more nuanced than many prose-only books.
Think of it as a hybrid between literature and storyboard. Or an early ancestor of Instagram storytelling – just with depth, intention, and no algorithmic meddling.
Why Do Children Love Graphic Novels?
Immediate engagement – The visuals draw children in before a single word is read.
Pacing & flow – Fast-moving panels and page-turning layouts create a sense of motion and progress.
Relatability – Facial expressions, gestures, and settings offer emotional context that prose can't always capture.
Control – Readers can linger on an image or race through, giving them autonomy over the story.
They’re not just fun – they’re neurologically rich experiences.
What Happens in the Brain When Children Read Graphic Novels?
Reading graphic novels is a cross-modal task. It activates:
The left hemisphere, for language and textual decoding.
The right hemisphere, for spatial awareness, facial recognition, and interpreting visual cues.
The prefrontal cortex, for sequencing, decision-making, and empathy.
This dual-channel processing boosts:
Comprehension
Working memory
Inference-making
Pattern recognition
It’s the literary equivalent of a full-body workout. Studies from institutions like Northwestern University https://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/blog/research-behind-graphic-novels-and-young-learners have shown that readers of comics and graphic novels often outperform written or spoken language, readers in recall, inference, and engagement.
Visual Literacy Is Real Literacy
Long before the first pictograms were pushed into clay tablets, humans were already telling stories – in pictures. The earliest cave paintings, such as those in Lascaux or Chauvet, are more than decoration. Some researchers believe they depict sequences of movement and transformation, suggesting a proto-cinematic quality – early humans using images to record, remember, and communicate experiences like the hunt or ritual.
In that sense, visual storytelling might be the original narrative form, predating written language by tens of thousands of years. Art is arguably a universal language – instantly accessible, emotionally rich, and deeply rooted in the human brain.
This is why visual literacy is not a modern convenience; it’s a return to something ancient. Pictures and stories together tap into how our brains are wired to understand the world, making graphic novels a continuation of a tradition that’s been evolving since the first mark was made on a wall.
In a world increasingly dominated by visual media, visual literacy is as essential as textual literacy. Graphic novels demand readers interpret subtle cues: a raised eyebrow, a shift in shadow, an object in the background.
For children with dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning differences, this visual context offers anchors that support comprehension. And for neurotypical readers? It expands their cognitive toolkit.
Why the UK Still Struggles with Visual Storytelling
If you're wondering why graphic novels still face resistance in some corners of the British literary world – despite their obvious popularity – there may be a deeper, more historical reason.
In England, the suspicion of visual storytelling has deep roots. When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s and declared himself the head of The Church of England, it wasn't just a political or theological rupture – it was also a cultural one. The Protestant Reformation brought with it a wave of iconoclasm: stained glass windows were smashed, murals painted over, and richly decorated churches stripped bare. The visual culture of Catholicism – so central to its rituals – was cast aside in favour of the written word. The Bible in English took centre stage, and textual literacy became a moral virtue.
In the centuries that followed, the English-speaking world began to privilege words over images, seeing the former as rational and intellectual, and the latter as emotional or even suspect. This suspicion of imagery helped establish a deep bias in British culture: real knowledge came through text. Pictures were decorative at best – manipulative or infantile at worst.
That mindset hasn’t entirely disappeared. Even today in publishing, we often catalogue books by author only, even when the illustrator is integral to the work. Prizes may be awarded to picture books where the illustrator is still barely mentioned. And despite the narrative complexity of many graphic novels, they are still too often dismissed as "not proper books" – especially in education settings.
This attitude doesn’t exist everywhere. In France, illustrators are often given equal billing. In Japan, manga artists are national celebrities. But in the UK? There's still a lingering tendency to see visual storytelling as a lower art form – a hangover from centuries of privileging print over picture.
But it’s time that changed. The rise of graphic novels in schools, libraries, and children’s bedrooms signals a shift in how we understand literacy. Today’s children are growing up in a visually saturated world – and they deserve stories that speak their language. Graphic novels aren’t a threat to literacy. They’re part of its evolution...and so are comics too.
Graphic Novels Aren’t a Gateway - They’re the Centre
The prevailing narrative in children’s publishing is a comforting one: graphic novels are a
“gateway” to reading. They help reluctant readers find their way back to “proper books” - the assumption being that text in blocks remains the destination, and pictures the route.
It is a neat idea. It is also increasingly unconvincing. I have never been convinced.
Because the evidence suggests something different. Children have not fallen out of love with reading. They have fallen out of step with formats that no longer reflect how they process stories, information and meaning. Narrative is not in decline. It has simply evolved - and graphic novels sit at the heart of that evolution.
I was born in Dundee - home of The Beano - in the same year that the Bash Street Kids first appeared - 1954. That, I suppose, is my claim to fame. But it is also something more useful: a reminder that visual storytelling has always been central to how children read. The anarchic energy, pacing and visual wit of those comics stayed with me, and later informed the design of the You Wouldn’t Want to Be… series - books built not as static texts, but as experiences unfolding across the page.
The commercial data now catches up with that instinct. The global comics and graphic novel market is worth billions, driven not only by manga but by children’s series that consistently dominate bestseller lists. Dog Man has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. In the UK, Bunny vs Monkey continues to lead the field, with recent titles topping World Book Day charts in 2026. Manga series such as One Piece routinely sell over a million copies per volume in Japan.
This is not a marginal category. It is one of the most commercially dynamic areas of the market.
And yet, the language used to describe it remains oddly diminished. A “gateway” implies something transitional - a form whose primary purpose is to lead readers elsewhere. It is a strangely backhanded compliment for a format that is already outperforming many of its supposed destinations.
The industry’s relationship with graphic novels reflects a familiar pattern. Readers move first; publishers follow. The recent enthusiasm for the category has been framed as discovery, but in reality it is closer to pursuit - an attempt to replicate the success of titles that have already captured children’s attention.
In doing so, publishers have occasionally misread what makes the format work. Well-intentioned “educational” graphic novels - carefully aligned to curriculum goals - have too often resulted in work that feels dutiful rather than compelling. Over-explained panels, cautious artwork and a slightly laboured tone can flatten what is, at its best, an energetic and highly sophisticated form.
Children, unsurprisingly, notice. They are acute readers of visual language - sensitive to pacing, tone and authenticity. They know the difference between something created with confidence and something designed to be “good for them”. And they choose accordingly.
There is a longer cultural thread at play here. Reading has traditionally been associated with status and aspiration. Harold Macmillan once observed, with characteristic dryness, “Whenever I feel bored, I like to go to bed with a Trollope.” The remark was lightly mischievous, but its meaning was clear: reading - and reading the right things - signalled taste, education and authority. That idea persisted into modern education policy. In 2011, Michael Gove argued that too few pupils were engaging with “the classics” and called for children to encounter “the finest minds of all time”.
The intention - to raise expectations and widen access to cultural inheritance - was admirable. But it rested on an assumption that now feels increasingly fragile: that reading is hierarchical, and that certain forms sit naturally above others.
Graphic novels challenge that hierarchy. They are not simplified texts, but multi-layered systems that combine image, sequence and language in ways that demand active interpretation. They require readers to infer, decode and navigate meaning across panels and pages. This is not a lesser literacy. It is a different one — and, in many cases, a more demanding one.
At the same time, access to reading remains uneven. Graphic novels may be thriving commercially, but they are not always affordable for the families most in need of them. Libraries - still the primary access point for many children - remain underfunded and overstretched. It is a persistent contradiction: we celebrate reading for pleasure while weakening the infrastructure that supports it.
The “gateway” argument endures because it is reassuring. It allows the industry to embrace graphic novels without fully relinquishing older assumptions about hierarchy and value. But the market, and readers themselves, are already pointing in another direction.
Graphic novels are not leading children back to the centre of reading.
They have become it.
And if we are still waiting for children to return to the old hierarchy, we may find they have already outgrown it - and taken the future of reading with them.
From Classics to Contemporary
For those still craving traditional gravitas, many classics have been adapted beautifully into graphic novels:
Hamlet
The Odyssey
Frankenstein
Jane Eyre
Oliver Twist
These are not dumbed-down; they’re reimagined with care, retaining original themes and language while offering new access points.
Top Graphic Novels for Children
Ages 6–8
Ages 8–12
Ages 12+
Leading Publishers of Graphic Novels for Children
First Second Books: https://firstsecondbooks.com
A trailblazer in quality graphic novels across age ranges.
Graphix (Scholastic): https://kids.scholastic.com/kid/books/graphix/
Focused on middle-grade graphic novels with mainstream appeal.
Flying Eye Books: https://flyingeyebooks.com/books/
Lushly illustrated, high-quality graphic novels with strong narrative art.
Nobrow Press: https://nobrow.net/books/
Particularly for older children and teens; visually ambitious titles
The Phoenix Comic: https://thephoenixcomic.co.uk/homepage/
Regular stories that build into graphic collections; ideal for younger and reluctant readers.
Toon Books: https://www.toon-books.com/
Geared toward early readers with a literacy-first approach.
SelfMadeHero: https://selfmadehero.com
More literary adaptations and edgy themes for teens and up.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a parent, carer, teacher, or grandparent wondering whether graphic novels count as “real books,” the answer is now louder than ever: yes, they do.
They’re gateway books, confidence boosters, empathy engines, and brain builders. They tell stories in new ways, sometimes more deeply than traditional prose can manage.
So let’s shelve the snobbery – and instead, celebrate a format that gets children reading, and keeps them reading...and remember the comics too.
The Graffex Series
Penko Gelev
The artist, filmmaker, and publisher Penko Gelev, who is extremely talented, had been creating a series of graphic novels based on classic stories for The Salariya Book Company.
I was lucky that Penko approached my stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007 with the perfect style and expertise I was seeking. Together, we collaborated on many titles for the series 'Graffex'.
For a long time, I had wanted to adapt classic stories into graphic novels, inspired by the 'Classics Illustrated' series which was created by Albert Kanter in 1941. This series, featured stories by well-known authors, ran until 1969, producing 169 issues, with different publishers reissuing the titles over the years.
Graphic novels illustrated
by Penko Gelev
Kidnapped, Stevenson, Salariya Book House 2006
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Hugo, Salariya Book House 2006
Oliver Twist Dickens, Salariya Book House 2006
Moby Dick, Melville, Salariya Book House 2006,
Journey to the Centre of the Earth Verne, Salariya Book House 2007
Treasure Island, Stevenson, Salariya Book House 2007
Man in the Iron Mask Dumas, Salariya Book House 2007
Dracula Stoker, Salariya Book House 2007
Frankenstein Shelley, Salariya Book House 2007
The Three Musketeers Dumas, Salariya Book House 2008
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain, Salariya Book House 2008
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Stevenson, Salariya Book House 2009
Hamlet Shakespeare, Salariya Book House, 2009
Jane Eyre Brontë, Salariya Book House 2009
Gulliver's Travels Swift, Salariya Book House 2009
Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare, Salariya Book House, 2010
The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare, Salariya Book House 2010
A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare, Salariya Book House 2010
Robinson Crusoe Defoe, Salariya Book House 2011
Great Expectations Dickens, Salariya Book House 2011
David Copperfield Dickens, Salariya Book House 2011
David Salariya is a writer, illustrator, and designer who has spent his career making books that combine words and pictures to spark children’s curiosity. He created the Graffex (now published by Bonnier Imprint Hatchg) raphic novel series and has long championed visual storytelling as a gateway to literacy - especially for reluctant readers. More at davidsalariya.com.
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