National Ambassador for Young People's Literature defends comic books

Jon Scieszka, the United States' first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, defends comic books in a School Library Journal interview published on February 1, 2008. Here is an excerpt:

School Library Journal: Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University, was recently quoted in a New York Times article as saying, “If we’re going to use comics in the classroom at all, which I have serious debates about, it should only be as a motivational tool.” Did you see that?

Scieszka: Yeah. It made me spit my coffee on the paper.

School Library Journal: That seems 180-degrees opposite from what you’re talking about.

Scieszka: That seems to be running directly backward. That’s why I’m so glad that I can be more than just “Oh, here’s this guy, Jon Scieszka.” Now, I can be Jon Scieszka, your national ambassador with the laureate laurel on and the tiara and the sash and the staff. I’ve got to work on all that extra stuff, so I can sound official.

School Library Journal: You could get a fancy vest and robes.

Scieszka: I need some gear—laureate swag—and just to come out and be official and say, “Take a break. Comics are OK.” I love Lisa Von Drasek, the librarian at Bank Street College. She’s somebody who knows that you’re not watering down the curriculum when you use comics. If you work with a bunch of kids, like Lisa does, and you see the work that they put into reading a comic or decoding an entire graphic novel, you realize it’s spectacular stuff. So why would we cut off our nose just to uphold some imaginary standards? And the same thing is true of a lot of other genres that used to be looked down on, like science fiction and fantasy.

Click here to read the entire interview.