Superpatate: Introducing Comics To Children – Being Parents
Children’s literature is characterized by its great variety in terms of types of books, which encourages reading by giving each child the opportunity to choose among several types of books the ones he prefers.
Although the most famous children’s books are classic books consisting of many pages with a lot of text and sometimes a few illustrations, there are others that are very different but just as valid for children.
On many occasions, younger people refuse to read a book when faced with this amount of text. It makes them look lazy and boring, and doesn’t grab their attention at all. However, there is a completely different type of book to these. It engages children much more easily because of its structure. These are no more and no less comics.
What are comics?
You have surely read, in your childhood, the stories of characters such as Lucky Luke, Tintin, Alix or even Asterix and Obelix. They all have something in common: they are characters created for the comics.
These books have a very defined and marked structure. These are stories that are shown through sequences of contiguous images, included in small images called thumbnails. Likewise, the texts developed by the different characters are included in a symbol called a “bubble”. These are the bubbles that come out of the mouths of the speaking characters.
In addition to the mythical comics of characters as well known as the ones we mentioned above, there are others for children who have never enjoyed this other kind of reading. One of the most notable is Superpatate which, as you can imagine, has as its main character a superhero called SuperMax, who is transformed into a potato.
Superpatate: comics for the little ones
Comics are a great idea for children to read . However, you have to ask yourself if it is suitable for their age. The character stories we were talking about earlier, which are most common in the comic book world, are not the most suitable for younger people.
For children aged 3 to 9, the Mamut collection is ideal. It includes a series of comics suitable for different age groups. Among the best known, we find Magic Caca and Superpatate.
Superpatate structure
The Superpatate cartoon is recommended for children aged six and over. This series already includes nine different titles. Its structure, like that of all other titles intended for this age, is very simple.
Unlike comics such as Tintin or Lucky Luke, where there are a lot of thumbnails per page and a lot of text, in these the maximum is six thumbnails per page.
The text is also easier to read. Very short and simple sentences are used so that they are perfectly understandable by the children.
The illustrations are very colorful and have a very important weight in the story. And this with the aim that it is perfectly understandable by the children, without them having to read the text.
History
In the first title of the series, we find out why superhero Max is turned into a potato. This is all the fault of the Malevolent Doctor.
Superheroes and adventures intertwine in a fantastic way in these simple vignettes that will hook the little ones with the amount of illustrations and the little text that accompanies them. An ideal book for children who have difficulty reading.
Promote reading through this type of book
From the age of five or six, children begin to learn to read. When laying the foundations for reading, it is important that as educators and as a family, they encourage reading through different types of books.
Teaching children the many reading options they can choose from will help them make reading a regular activity. Comics are definitely a good choice. Nothing catches the attention of children at this age more than eye-catching illustrations. It is even better if they are not used to these sticker books and are discovering them for the first time.