Kindness in Graphic Novels
This week I read Stargazing by Jen Wang and New Shoes by Sara Varon. Both of these stories were vary different but to me I felt as though they had a common theme of kindness. In this blog post I will be talking about these two graphic novels and how I saw the theme of Kindness in these stories.
Stargazing follows the story of two young girls growing up in the Chinese american community.Moon Li and her mom fall on hard times so Christine's family steps in and allows them to live in their guest house until they can find a place on their own. Since they are moving, Moon will be going to the same school as Christine. Rumors had already been circulating about the type of person Moon is but Christine decides to ignore the rumors and befriend her. Even though they are complete opposites, they become the best of friends. Moon is a free spirited Buddhist, vegetarian and very artistic while Christine is very reserved and feels pressure to live up to her parents expectations to be perfect. Moon teaches Christine to be more free spirited and Christine helps Moon to feel welcomed in a new school. Moon tells Christine of the celestial visions she sees which unfortunately turns out to be a brain tumor. When she has to end up having surgery Christine sticks by her side through her recovery. The school ends up rallying together to raise funds for moon’s surgery.
New Shoes was the other graphic novel that I read this week. This story follows Francis, a donkey, who is the go to shoemaker of his town. His friends in town help Francis with gathering supplies for his shoes. When he gets tasked with making shoes for Miss Manatee, a well known singer, one of his suppliers and friends is suddenly missing. Though Francis has never been out of his town he realizes he must make the journey through the jungle to find the supply he needs for his shoes. Rhoda, another friend and animal from his town, decides to join him on this journey. When they arrive at the river they face their first obstacle of the river. Francis doesn't know how to swim but thankfully some friendly herons point them in the direction of some capybaras who can help him learn to swim. After their encounter with the capybaras they continue on their journey and meet all sorts of new animals. Along this journey they come to understand that the friend they are looking for hasn't been so nice. The supply that they are looking for has been stolen from the Tiger when it used to be a part of a fair trade. Once Francis learns this he works with the Tiger to understand his point of view of the story. Francis gives the Tiger his book on animals in exchange for the supply he needs for his shoes. The tiger even agrees to teach Francis how to grow his very own tiger grass, the important supply for Francis's shoes, so he wouldn't have to go into the jungle whenever he runs out. When they are back in town Francis finally realized that Miss Manatee doesn't have any feet to put shoes on. Francis decides to enlist the help of his new friends to find a solution to help Miss Manatee perform comfortably on land. They all work together and Miss Manatee has an amazing concert loved by everyone in the town.
When I first picked up New Shoes I wasn't sure I was going to like the book because I am not a huge fan of books about animals or nature. Not that I dislike those things but it's just never been my favorite topic to read about. Once I started to read and learn about the characters I instantly fell in love with the story. Francis was so scared to go out of his comfort zone but he has a great friend in Rhoda who was there to support him along the way. I loved reading about their friendship as well as their experiences meeting new animals along their journey who eventually become their friends.
On the other hand I knew I would love stargazing from the minute I picked it up and I was right. The characters were just so well thought out and the way Wang brought them to life made everything seem so real. I was instantly sucked into the story and couldn't bring myself to put down the book.
Both books had such beautiful illustrations that made the story come to life. Varon had the difficult task of making jungle animals come to life and she did it so well I felt as though I could relate to the characters and understand how they were feeling. Students often resonate towards graphic novels because they are easier to read and have amazing pictures. When students may not be at the same reading level as their peers reading a graphic novel such as stargazing or new shoes can help them to practice their reading without it being so overwhelming. As a Teacher I cant wait to have either of these books in my classroom. I hope that my students love these books as much as I did.
The author and illustrator of New Shoes, Jen Wang, was born in California and grew up in a region with other Chinese and Taiwanese immigrant families similar to the one Moon and Christine live in. She states in her Afterword that though this story is purely fictional she has based much of the story off of things she has experienced in her life. At the age of six she was also diagnosed with a brain tumor like Moon. Although she didn't see celestial beings like Moon she wanted a way to express how lonely she felt growing up. She was very different from the other families she grew up with just like Moon. Jen Wang wanted to make a novel that resembled how she felt growing up as a kid. Writing and illustrating this book seems like a great way for her to get her story out there and to help kids who are similar to her and Moon. Lark Pien worked with Jen Wang on this graphic novel by adding color to the pictures.
Interview with Jen Wang: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=jen-wang-draws-from-reality-stargazing
Sara Varon is a children’s book author/illustrator, graphic novelist and print maker who currently lives in Brooklyn. She started visiting Guyana in 2012 with her husband to visit his family. His family lives in Linden which Varon described as being really slow. There were animals on the loose everywhere and she fell in love with that aspect. This is where she got the inspiration for the book New Shoes. She based the illustrations in the book off of the animals she saw on her trips. In an interview Sara states that she learned about so many new fruits and animals that she wanted to include it in the story which is why Francis discovers all new things on his trip. This way the reader can experience all of these new things just like Sara did. Sara Varon has won 30 different awards for her writing and illustrations through the years.
Interview about New Shoes: http://www.comicosity.com/interview-sara-varon-goes-on-a-quest-for-new-shoes/
In Stargazing, on page 194 when Christine goes to visit Moon in the hospital after her surgery you can tell just by her facial expressions what she is feeling. She's worried about her friend Moon who just had a pretty big surgery and she's also nervous about what she is going to say to her because right before her surgery she had done something not very nice. I was able to infer all of this by just looking at her facial expressions from the moment she stepped into the room to the moment she actually told Moon about what she had done. This spread is so powerful because it can be extremely hard for someone to own up to their mistakes let alone apologize to the person they had hurt. Christine owned up to her actions, apologized and her and Moon were able to move on with their friendship.
At the end of the novel Moon decided to go to the talent show to support Christine who was performing with the dance group. When Moon's mom went to pay for their tickets she was denied. The teacher taking money for the tickets told her that the ticket was on them and there was no need to pay. Mr. Pennypacker then showed her Mom that they had actually made the talent show into a fundraiser for Moon’s surgery expenses. On pg. 305 you can feel the gratitude that Ms. Li feels just from her facial expressions. They had been through so much the past year and to finally be in a place where they are supported is like a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Moon had made a great friend in Christine who wanted to do something nice for her friend. I feel as though this fundraiser was a way for Christine to say thank you to Moon for being such a good friend and forgiving her when she made a mistake.
These spreads are a great way to teach students about what it means to be kind to others as well as the power of friendship. Christine left Moons journal open on purpose at the Birthday party so that she would be embarrassed. However, once it's revealed that Moon has a brain tumor Christine feels instantly guilty. When she visits Moon in the hospital after her surgery she apologizes for what she did and Moon forgives her. As students get older there can be a lot of drama within friend groups which can make it very stressful. Christine and Moon are a great example of what can happen when you are kind to one another and forgive others if they apologized to you for wrongdoing. The last few pages of the novel shows how good it can feel when you do a kind gesture for others. Ms. Li never asked for much and did her best to support her daughter. Others in their community saw how hard working she was and wanted to do something nice to help her out. This story shows that not everyone comes from a family with two parents and that sometimes life can be hard. By showing others kindness you can make things a little bit easier on everyone.
In Chapter 7 in Reading to make a difference the topic is differences. When growing up children are taught by cultural norms and adult attitudes which differences matter and which ones do not. As they go through school some Children will view those differences as an opportunity to exclude or embarrass others. As Teachers I feel that it is our duty to squish those ideals that people who are different are weird. We should teach them instead that those differences are what make us unique and should be celebrated. In New Shoes Francis meets a lot of animals on his journey who are a lot different than him. Instead of being mean and making fun of them for their differences he was kind to them and even ended up making friends with a few of them. These new friends were even there for him when he needed help making something for Miss Manatee so she could perform on land. In Stargazing, Moon is a new student who has a reputation for beating people up. Even though she is of Asian Descent like her new neighbor Christine she doesn't act the same or even ate traditional Asian foods the same. Instead of judging her for her differences Christine decides to be kind to her and the two end up becoming the best of friends. Moon even helps Christine to be more outgoing. In the Reading to Make a difference, Britney Ross and her students have a lesson on kindness and differences. After reading multiple books on this topic the students decided that they wanted to make kindness posters to hang around their community. These posters were all about being kind to others. The posters made such an impact in their community that they received a letter from a community member saying that she was feeling a little sad but once she saw their posters she felt much love and they gave her the strength to take care of what was making her sad. All of these stories show how powerful it can be to be kind. You can change a persons day or even change their life by just simply being kind to them.
Book Comparison Chart inspired by Laminack and Kelly's Reading to Make A Difference:
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