美国国家公共电台 NPR Yes, Some Comics Are For Kids — And They're Big Business

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Comic books have long engaged young and old. But these days, there is a new batch¹ of graphic² novels that is especially aimed at children. NPR Books editor Petra Mayer went to San Diego Comic-Con to check them out.

PETRA MAYER, BYLINE³: What's the best way to get kids reading? Hook them young with colorful, easy-to-follow stories - in other words, comic books. Before I left for the convention, I checked in with Lucy Strother, a fourth grade teacher in Philadelphia whose students just love comics.

LUCY STROTHER: We have, like, a graphic novels bin⁴ in the library, and it's, like, perpetually empty because the kids are so obsessed⁵ with comics and graphic novels.

MAYER: Strother says graphic novels are an important way to get kids used to reading longer chapter books with more mature ideas. And for her students, there's one author who reigns⁶ supreme⁷.

STROTHER: The queen of my classroom is Raina Telgemeier.

RAINA TELGEMEIER: (Laughter) My name does mean queen.

MAYER: The queen herself is here at Comic-Con. Her latest graphic novel, "Ghost," is a gentle, lovely story for middle grade readers about a girl coming to terms with her little sister's serious illness.

TELGEMEIER: Comics are good for so many different types of readers. So kids who have never finished a book on their own before can pick up a graphic novel and be done with it in an hour and feel so empowered that they've never had that experience before. They finished something.

MAYER: Telgemeier says she draws comics for the kid she once was, the one who wanted more than newspaper strips or DC and Marvel⁸ superhero comics. And at first she had to self-publish. Now comics with kids are big business.

Mark Siegel is the editorial and creative director at First Second Books. That's the graphic novel imprint⁹ of Macmillan. The First Second booth is bustling¹⁰ and piled with books for young readers, some of them for the very youngest.

MARK SIEGEL: A couple of these are wordless. I have "Little Robots" by Ben Hatke, which is nearly wordless. And then one of our hits is "Robot Dreams" by Sara Varon. This is a wordless story about a dog and a robot.

MAYER: Seigel says business is booming.

SIEGEL: We've just jumped from 23 titles a year to 40 in young readers. We've not reached the limit of that market.

MAYER: And for kids who do like superhero comics, the big guys are listening. Jim Lee is the publisher at DC Entertainment where their "Super Hero Girls" graphic novel series has been a massive hit.

JIM LEE: And so that's given us the confidence and the foundation to essentially¹¹ do a young reader line.

MAYER: Lee says that's going to require some major changes in the way DC does business. The company's trying to attract a more diverse group of writers to create books around DC characters. And instead of concentrating on selling single issues to comic shops, they're going to have to start thinking about how to get books to kids. It's a big undertaking¹².

LEE: In the many years - almost 20 years - here at DC, I've never seen the company as busy as it has been this past year.

MAYER: And I have never seen as many little kids - especially little girls - at San Diego Comic-Con as I have this year. Nine-year-old Kayla Miller¹³ is here with her family. She's dressed as a video game character, but she says she loves to read.

KAYLA MILLER: Chapter books, graphic novels, Japanese, like, comics.

MAYER: Her very favorite? Spider-Man. So let's have a truce¹⁴ on the page. Some comics are for kids - just not all of them. Petra Mayer, NPR News, San Diego.

1 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

6 reigns   

n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期

参考例句：

• In these valleys night reigns. 夜色笼罩着那些山谷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Queen of Britain reigns, but she does not rule or govern. 英国女王是国家元首，但不治国事。 来自辞典例句

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 imprint   

n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记

参考例句：

• That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
• Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。

10 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

13 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

14 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。