Getting kids interested in reading can sometimes be difficult. It's a hard sell these days to convince the kids that books and their imagination could be just as stimulating as the latest version of Pokemon for their Nintendo DS. For those of you with young boys, I want to give you a heads up on a discovery I made. Calvin & Hobbes. You may remember this dynamic duo from a decade or two ago-a precocious 7 year old and his stuffed tiger.
Calvin & Hobbes were featured in just about every major newspaper (that is, if you can remember newspapers). Well, it seems that even though the strip's creator never took to the mass merchandising route, he did release a number of books containing color and B&W strip collections. Nowadays you can get these at just about any used book or thrift store for like $2-$3.
With my own minions I've found that the collections of Calvin & Hobbes strips resonate. Many of the themes of a little boys life (homework, bullies, parents, little girls, teachers,playing outside) are covered in the pages of the strip. Not to mention Calvin's imaginary adventures as a spaceman, superhero, or even a dinosaur - there is plenty there to stoke a young imagination. But be prepared for questions regarding complex ideologies and ethical quandaries- because as Calvin discovers and questions the idiosyncrasies of his world, so will your minions. But the thing is while they are doing this they are laughing, and more importantly-reading.
C A L V I N B A L L ! ! ! !
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more with your post.
ReplyDeleteBTW you can get a daily Calvin download on your Android phone, just search for Calvin under 'comics'
Alien Dave
Snowman house of horror was my favorite Calvin and Hobbes.
ReplyDeleteA bit late, but I would agree with this post completely. When my son was 6 and moving past the I-Can-Read books, I got him some Calvin & Hobbes collections. He loved them and read them voraciously.
ReplyDeleteI know later his 2nd grade teacher did not approve, she asked us to not let him bring them to school, but she was basically useless in his education anyway. He became a much better reader because of Calvin than because of her.
My son loves Calvin & Hobbes. He tries to get his own copies of the collections I already have.
ReplyDeleteBefore he could read, he used to love looking at Dilbert. Not so much now.
What a great post!! My son's first actual interest in books came via Calvin & Hobbes too!!!
ReplyDelete