spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 9, 2015 22:16:16 GMT -5
Hi all! I'm relatively new to the forums, but excited to be here. I wanted to get some thoughts on something I've been mulling for a while now. My daughter is still an infant, so the concept of comics are still a bit above her head. However, as she grows I am very interested in sharing my love of the medium with her. I don't think that many will disagree that fandom has historically been mired in a gender bias. However, over the past few years there appears to have been a paradigm shift whereby several women are becoming enchanted by the charm of graphic story telling. Certainly the publishers and creators have had a massive influence on this change. However, my query is more on the sociological side. For you parents of little girls out there, when did you first introduce comics to your kids? Which comics did they seem to enjoy? What unique ideas did you try to help you form a bond over comics with your sweetheart(s)? I am completely open to your thoughts/suggestions and hope you will find it an engaging topic of discussion for the forum. Let's get creative, people!
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skylynx
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Post by skylynx on Jan 10, 2015 17:12:22 GMT -5
Interesting topic. I have two young daughters. My oldest is 4 and seemed very interested in a comic I was reading (Transformers Windblade) as it had a 'lady robot' in it. She wanted me to read her some so I did, which she seemed to enjoy but kept wanting to turn the pages to look at the pretty pictures As she's into My Little Pony I recently bought her a comic from IDW to read her. She really enjoyed it. She seems interested in my comic books but I don't want to force comics on her. I'm just seeing how it goes naturally, but I'm really looking forward to being able to share more comics with her in the future (fingers crossed she likes Transformers! XD )
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 10, 2015 22:36:51 GMT -5
Interesting topic. I have two young daughters. My oldest is 4 and seemed very interested in a comic I was reading (Transformers Windblade) as it had a 'lady robot' in it. She wanted me to read her some so I did, which she seemed to enjoy but kept wanting to turn the pages to look at the pretty pictures As she's into My Little Pony I recently bought her a comic from IDW to read her. She really enjoyed it. She seems interested in my comic books but I don't want to force comics on her. I'm just seeing how it goes naturally, but I'm really looking forward to being able to share more comics with her in the future (fingers crossed she likes Transformers! XD ) Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! I particularly liked that you stressed that you don't want to force comics on your daughters. I feel exactly the same way. (.....about all endeavors come to think of it). I would love to have a passion like comics in common with her, but I want to be sure it's an interest that blossoms organically. I had considered using comics for story time so it's great to hear that you have tried this and found it to be enjoyable. My little girl is very much in the grabbing (and subsequently tearing) phase of her development, so perhaps I will try to find some cheap back issues of kids comics at a future con or in my local shop. That way if they get destroyed it's no big loss. Thanks again for sharing and I am glad you found the topic interesting. Hope to talk to you again soon! P.S. Good luck on cultivating that love of Transformers with your girls!
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Post by caircoke on Jan 10, 2015 23:07:36 GMT -5
For one, start reading to a little one as soon as they're born! The number of words they hear before age 3 in particular is super important. My daughter is now 8 and loves all kinds of books, including comics. I wish there were more that were appropriate for her.
Second, just have comics along with other picture books. Kids love picture books. Comics are just one version.
Third, some good first ones are DC Superfriends, Tiny Titans, and the books with the DC superpets. My daughter loved all of these--except she said she wished that Wonder Woman wasn't the only woman in the first one. But all three of these are gentle, for kids, nonviolent, and showing the awesomeness of heroes.
Later, My Little Pony and Princeless. Both have a range of female characters/heroes, and your little one needs that! And they are funny and clever. Plus, they both make fun of the stereotypes of female superheroes and other stereotypes.
Also, nonfiction--Trina robbins has a few nonfiction comics profiling famous women in history.
Good luck!
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 10, 2015 23:19:38 GMT -5
For one, start reading to a little one as soon as they're born! The number of words they hear before age 3 in particular is super important. My daughter is now 8 and loves all kinds of books, including comics. I wish there were more that were appropriate for her. Second, just have comics along with other picture books. Kids love picture books. Comics are just one version. Third, some good first ones are DC Superfriends, Tiny Titans, and the books with the DC superpets. My daughter loved all of these--except she said she wished that Wonder Woman wasn't the only woman in the first one. But all three of these are gentle, for kids, nonviolent, and showing the awesomeness of heroes. Later, My Little Pony and Princeless. Both have a range of female characters/heroes, and your little one needs that! And they are funny and clever. Plus, they both make fun of the stereotypes of female superheroes and other stereotypes. Also, nonfiction--Trina robbins has a few nonfiction comics profiling famous women in history. Good luck! Thanks for the suggestions and the reading list too. Seems like a lot of great ideas! We certainly have a lot of picture books and try to read to her often for the very reasons you have stated. I think that I will try to supplement this library with a few of the titles that you've mentioned, with particular emphasis on those featuring strong female characters. So great that you have been able to share your love of comics with your daughter and I hope to do the same. Glad to hear from you!
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Post by toxicsooner on Jan 11, 2015 0:19:47 GMT -5
This is a great topic and while I am the father of a boy, kids are kids and they tend to gravitate to things their parents enjoy. I stated this in my intro to the forum, but my son was actually the catalyst for me getting back into comics. Now we both enjoy some of the same titles and it gives us a common thread that I feel is a great connection. We are fortunate in this day and age that there are an abundance of options out there for both boys and girls to enjoy. So if I can offer any advice, continue to express your love for the medium and foster her curiosity and excitement and I think you will have a comic buddy for life.
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Post by toxicsooner on Jan 11, 2015 0:22:13 GMT -5
BTW, I almost forgot, welcome to the forum. It's always good to see new people who are passionate and enjoy comics.
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bpp
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Post by bpp on Jan 11, 2015 7:09:15 GMT -5
No kids but wearing our Auntie / Uncle hat we always gift comic books at Xmas (and F.C.B.D). The best comic for the really young (2-5) (and adults) is the amazing Owly series by Andy Runton. These are all wordless, have panel layouts and use basic 'x' + 'y' = 'z' to illustrate Owly's thought process for the story. Andy Runton sells them from his own site (as well as Amazon etc) and if you buy from him he'll sketch an Owly and a personal message to the child inside the book.
For older girls (5 on reading age) our gift of choice is the beautiful Hilda books about a smart pre-teen girl who lives with her mum (at first in the country and then in the city) and see the 'real' world (elves, creatures, monsters) that most people don't. Fantastic books that teach about determination, kindness, respect and empowerment while being thrilling and funny . Hilda books are beautifully produced and are amongst the best comics produced today. Hilda is by Luke Pearson and published by NoBrow. I would start with Hilda And The Midnight Giant which is as good a comic as anyone will read in 2015.
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Post by sammiecassell on Jan 11, 2015 18:41:23 GMT -5
We'll mine are a little older (24 & 22) lol. But I let them get into it as they wanted to. When me and their mom started dating, Ashley was 8 & Morgan 6 and they both hated to read. I didn't push comics on either one but did occasionally make suggestions or asked if they wanted anything while I was at the LCS. I did take them to local cons when we had a chance (around softball and volleyball). Neither really got into it until much later and only the eldest has much at all. She's more into boy comics or stuff that I read (which may or not be related to the fact she's gay), which maybe plays into the stereotype? But that's a whole different sociological discussion for another day. She reads Walking Dead and loves Spider-Man, Batman, and absolutely loved the Boys. She would totally be a collector if she had any money to do it lol. The baby still really isn't into it. But, she likes the art side of it and loves going to cons.since she works for FEMA, it's hard for her to carry books or anything with her, but if she does read she still likes the old school Archie & old Harvey stuff. Dont know if anything I've said helps, but since I also do elementary school talks with young kids, I can tell you the girls do gravitate to My Little Pony, Adventure Time, SpongeBob, and such. But, they also like some of the popular heroes that we all adore.
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 11, 2015 19:22:43 GMT -5
This is a great topic and while I am the father of a boy, kids are kids and they tend to gravitate to things their parents enjoy. I stated this in my intro to the forum, but my son was actually the catalyst for me getting back into comics. Now we both enjoy some of the same titles and it gives us a common thread that I feel is a great connection. We are fortunate in this day and age that there are an abundance of options out there for both boys and girls to enjoy. So if I can offer any advice, continue to express your love for the medium and foster her curiosity and excitement and I think you will have a comic buddy for life. BTW, I almost forgot, welcome to the forum. It's always good to see new people who are passionate and enjoy comics. Hi Tox! I think you've offered some great advice. You are certainly right about the multitude of options available, for kids and adults alike. I'm excited to find out what types of things interest her as her personality comes online. With any luck she will find some things that we can both enjoy someday. Also, thanks for the welcome to the forums. Everyone has been so friendly so far. I definitely feel at home here!
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 11, 2015 19:29:18 GMT -5
No kids but wearing our Auntie / Uncle hat we always gift comic books at Xmas (and F.C.B.D). The best comic for the really young (2-5) (and adults) is the amazing Owly series by Andy Runton. These are all wordless, have panel layouts and use basic 'x' + 'y' = 'z' to illustrate Owly's thought process for the story. Andy Runton sells them from his own site (as well as Amazon etc) and if you buy from him he'll sketch an Owly and a personal message to the child inside the book. For older girls (5 on reading age) our gift of choice is the beautiful Hilda books about a smart pre-teen girl who lives with her mum (at first in the country and then in the city) and see the 'real' world (elves, creatures, monsters) that most people don't. Fantastic books that teach about determination, kindness, respect and empowerment while being thrilling and funny . Hilda books are beautifully produced and are amongst the best comics produced today. Hilda is by Luke Pearson and published by NoBrow. I would start with Hilda And The Midnight Giant which is as good a comic as anyone will read in 2015. Hi bpp! Thanks for the recommendations on Owly and Hilda. The way that you have described these books makes them sound like they would be perfect entries for my daughter to participate in comics. I will certainly add these to my list of content to check out. Stay well and hope to hear from you again soon!
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 11, 2015 19:43:23 GMT -5
We'll mine are a little older (24 & 22) lol. But I let them get into it as they wanted to. When me and their mom started dating, Ashley was 8 & Morgan 6 and they both hated to read. I didn't push comics on either one but did occasionally make suggestions or asked if they wanted anything while I was at the LCS. I did take them to local cons when we had a chance (around softball and volleyball). Neither really got into it until much later and only the eldest has much at all. She's more into boy comics or stuff that I read (which may or not be related to the fact she's gay), which maybe plays into the stereotype? But that's a whole different sociological discussion for another day. She reads Walking Dead and loves Spider-Man, Batman, and absolutely loved the Boys. She would totally be a collector if she had any money to do it lol. The baby still really isn't into it. But, she likes the art side of it and loves going to cons.since she works for FEMA, it's hard for her to carry books or anything with her, but if she does read she still likes the old school Archie & old Harvey stuff. Dont know if anything I've said helps, but since I also do elementary school talks with young kids, I can tell you the girls do gravitate to My Little Pony, Adventure Time, SpongeBob, and such. But, they also like some of the popular heroes that we all adore. Hey Sam! Actually, much like everyone else who has contributed to this thread, your experiences and thoughts on the matter help quite a bit. It seems like it would be a good idea to just get some quality base level books to start out with for bedtime story telling and then as she grows I can begin to show her the vast options available and let her tastes evolve on their own. Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions. See you around the "clubhouse'!
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Post by BarefootRoot on Jan 14, 2015 11:55:38 GMT -5
I have a 7 year old daughter who is a pretty good reader and I got her into comics this summer. Her intro was picking up something familiar (powerpuff girls and the simpsons) that she knew from TV (so licensed properties may be a good hook; I know transformers and GI Joe was what got me into it when i was a kid). I thought this was a great way to "prime the pump" so to speak. Being familiar with the subject material I think helped her be able to get used to the format without having to wonder about what was necessarily going on in the book.
There are a bunch of decent titles for young kids, according to my daughter: her favorites are tiny titans (this was a great one for her to gradate from powerpuff girls to), lumberjanes, teen titans go! and princess ugg. I would say princess ugg might be aimed a little bit older than 7, but Mirei is an advanced reader so your mileage may vary. She also likes the Amulet series and Cleopatra in Space.
now if your daughter winds up being a pretty good reader by that age, Mirei has also really enjoyed reading Jim Henson's Storyteller: Witches and Rocket Girl. These books skew older content-wise, but Mirei enjoyed them and said she understood what was going on in them. One trick I used to gauge what to give her was to have her read a few pages and then ask her a couple questions about it to see if she's understanding the content and not just enjoying the artwork. Sometimes when she would finish a book I would even give her a little quiz or ask her what she thought about different parts of the story. I thought this would make it more "our" hobby and give her a little more agency in making her own opinions on things.
One thing I would really recommend, especially if you're on the fence about a book for her, is to make sure you read it first. This accomplishes 2 things: first, you will know ahead of time if the content is something you want to expose her to, and second, 7 year olds tend to want to spoil stories. I can't tell you how much I had to yell at Mirei about giving away the story for the Storyteller books; she just wouldn't shut up about it! Don't be afraid to give her something she may not enjoy or might not be old enough for, too. I thought Mirei would like Gotham Academy and Ms Marvel, but she read an issue of each and didn't really want anything to do with them (GA#1: too creepy at the end, Ms Marvel#5: too boring and she had trouble with the muslim terminology). But then she really dug lumberjanes and rocket girl, so you take the hits with the misses.
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spydes
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fighting the nerdy fight!
Posts: 56
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Post by spydes on Jan 14, 2015 22:15:40 GMT -5
I have a 7 year old daughter who is a pretty good reader and I got her into comics this summer. Her intro was picking up something familiar (powerpuff girls and the simpsons) that she knew from TV (so licensed properties may be a good hook; I know transformers and GI Joe was what got me into it when i was a kid). I thought this was a great way to "prime the pump" so to speak. Being familiar with the subject material I think helped her be able to get used to the format without having to wonder about what was necessarily going on in the book. There are a bunch of decent titles for young kids, according to my daughter: her favorites are tiny titans (this was a great one for her to gradate from powerpuff girls to), lumberjanes, teen titans go! and princess ugg. I would say princess ugg might be aimed a little bit older than 7, but Mirei is an advanced reader so your mileage may vary. She also likes the Amulet series and Cleopatra in Space. now if your daughter winds up being a pretty good reader by that age, Mirei has also really enjoyed reading Jim Henson's Storyteller: Witches and Rocket Girl. These books skew older content-wise, but Mirei enjoyed them and said she understood what was going on in them. One trick I used to gauge what to give her was to have her read a few pages and then ask her a couple questions about it to see if she's understanding the content and not just enjoying the artwork. Sometimes when she would finish a book I would even give her a little quiz or ask her what she thought about different parts of the story. I thought this would make it more "our" hobby and give her a little more agency in making her own opinions on things. One thing I would really recommend, especially if you're on the fence about a book for her, is to make sure you read it first. This accomplishes 2 things: first, you will know ahead of time if the content is something you want to expose her to, and second, 7 year olds tend to want to spoil stories. I can't tell you how much I had to yell at Mirei about giving away the story for the Storyteller books; she just wouldn't shut up about it! Don't be afraid to give her something she may not enjoy or might not be old enough for, too. I thought Mirei would like Gotham Academy and Ms Marvel, but she read an issue of each and didn't really want anything to do with them (GA#1: too creepy at the end, Ms Marvel#5: too boring and she had trouble with the muslim terminology). But then she really dug lumberjanes and rocket girl, so you take the hits with the misses. Hi Bare! Thanks so much for taking the time to offer such detailed and well thought experiences/suggestions. It sounds like you were pretty successful in your summertime project of building a comic fan. (By the way, "Mirei" is such a cool and unique name. Well done!) Your excellent book suggestions certainly helped to contribute to my rapidly expanding potential reading list. But, I liked hearing about your experiences even more! Great idea about "quizzing" your daughter after a book to make sure that she comprehended and appreciated the content. I also liked your idea about reading the books first so that you remove her power to play spoiler. I hadn't even considered that a little one would likely be excited and have no concept of holding back. The best part of both of these methods is that they only help to promote more discussion about what is being read which after all is the whole point of sharing the experience anyway. I really enjoyed your stories and will try to incorporate these ideas into my comics relationship with my daughter someday. Thanks for sharing and I hope to talk to you again soon!
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Post by lissapunch on Jan 30, 2015 9:19:33 GMT -5
Hi there! I have a son, but I feel compelled to contribute to this. I did introduce my niece to comics around 5 years old and she's still reading them (and has expanded her interest in to manga/anime) at 13 years old. First, try to not think of your kid as requiring anything special or different to intro her to comics because of her gender. It will serve her better if you give her access to as much varied material and inspiration as you can find, without any worries about how her being female will influence what she likes. I firmly believe that as parents it's too easy sometimes to limit our kids' interests by offering them what we think they'll like rather than leaving that choice up to them. If you've ever listened to The Missfits, you can see that my interests vary quite a bit from the somewhat more "swoon worthy" interests of my fellow Missfits. That said, Bone was my niece's first intro to comics. But you've got plenty of time to collect some quality kid friendly comics! In the meantime, keep yours out of reach. At 2, my son's favorite book activity is ripping & tearing. Eek!
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