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10/22/2013

Gaiman Delivers Compelling Lecture on the Importance of Reading and Libraries for Young People

Here at TOON Books our mission is to create quality comics that children will want to read. Last week Neil Gaiman, the award-winning author of short fiction, novels, comics, and graphic novels, delivered a "spot on" lecture at The Reading Agency. He reminded us in no uncertain terms of our obligation to young readers: "We have an obligation not to bore our readers, but to make them need to turn the pages. One of the best cures for a reluctant reader, after all, is a tale they cannot stop themselves from reading...We have an obligation not to preach, not to lecture, not to force predigested morals and messages down our readers' throats like adult birds feeding their babies pre-masticated maggots; and we have an obligation never, ever, under any circumstances, to write anything for children to read that we would not want to read ourselves."

Neil Gaiman speaking at The Reading Agency. Photo by Robin Mayes.

The TOON Team couldn't agree more! Below some more of our favorite excerpts. What's yours!? See below for TOON's Comment Contest. Click here to read the complete lecture.

ON READING FOR PLEASURE...

"The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them."

"Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child's love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian "improving" literature. You'll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant."

"I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing."

ON COMICS AND CHOICE...

"Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy. It's tosh. It's snobbery and it's foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. A hackneyed, worn-out idea isn't hackneyed and worn out to them. This is the first time the child has encountered it. Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you."

"Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different."

ON PHYSICAL BOOKS...

"I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, over twenty years before the kindle turned up, a physical book is like a shark. Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is. Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them."

ON SUPPORTING LIBRARIES...

"But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information."

"Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open."

"We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."

ON DAYDREAMING...

"Look around you: I mean it. Pause, for a moment and look around the room that you are in. I'm going to point out something so obvious that it tends to be forgotten. It's this: that everything you can see, including the walls, was, at some point, imagined. Someone decided it was easier to sit on a chair than on the ground and imagined the chair. Someone had to imagine a way that I could talk to you in London right now without us all getting rained on.This room and the things in it, and all the other things in this building, this city exist because, over and over and over, people imagined things. They daydreamed, they pondered, they made things that didn't quite work, they described things that didn't yet exist to people who laughed at them."

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28 Comments

Helena Juhasz link

10/22/2013 04:34:52 am

"I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, over twenty years before the kindle turned up, a physical book is like a shark ... sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is"

This quote is spot on!! There's nothing like the tactile experience of reading a dog eared book on the beach, blowing sand out from between the pages, closely inspecting the printed lines and imagining how the artist created the illustrations, delicately propping up the book in the bathtub or curling up with the book while under the covers - or under the stars (with a flashlight). They require no power other than our dedicated attention.

Long live the book!

Chuck Rosenow

10/22/2013 04:51:32 am

“It's like the people who believe they'll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn't work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you." from 'The Graveyard Book',
because it applies to us all.

Cole Goldstein link

10/22/2013 04:53:43 am

“Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art.”
― Neil Gaiman, Make Good Art

This speech as a whole helped and continues to help me to make the work that I do. He helped to keep me on a path of design and making objects that I love. Whenever I start to waiver I can look to that speech to continue on. Also, my fiance is a librarian and just so happens to have a favorite author, Neil Gaiman. I have always loved the libraries, I find now I am helping to support them with a renewed vigor and understanding of how they truly work and their importance.

WMLandau link

10/22/2013 09:55:59 am

We all have an obligation to dream. We have an obligation to imagine.
Open-minded and sensitive adults emerge from terrific childhood experiences. Those earlier times were some of the best dreaming, imagining times; the threads for what we do and how we do that, even who we interact with today.

kali

10/31/2013 03:10:34 am

"Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different."

This is a fantastic quote because kids with imagination and discontent can make huge and positive changes in our world. They can see things that aren't right in front of them and envision a world they want to be a part of, and then work to make that world a reality.

Andrea

10/31/2013 03:23:11 am

"Look around you: I mean it. Pause, for a moment and look around the room that you are in. I'm going to point out something so obvious that it tends to be forgotten. It's this: that everything you can see, including the walls, was, at some point, imagined. Someone decided it was easier to sit on a chair than on the ground and imagined the chair. Someone had to imagine a way that I could talk to you in London right now without us all getting rained on.This room and the things in it, and all the other things in this building, this city exist because, over and over and over, people imagined things. They daydreamed, they pondered, they made things that didn't quite work, they described things that didn't yet exist to people who laughed at them."

I daydream all.the.time. so this makes me feel validated :)

Elizabeth Samaniego

10/31/2013 03:30:44 am

And the second thing fiction does is to build empathy. When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world, and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed.

Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals.

I think this quote really speaks the truth. In books we are left to our own imganition to feel what the characters are feeling. It is in those feelings we begin to understand how to be compassionate to others.

Kate Radford

10/31/2013 03:51:57 am

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

This quote is a little bit of all the great things that I believe Neil inspires in us: it's a little bit magic and hope and a lot of bit living your life because it's yours and amazing and a lot a bit about making a difference for those around you, but also for yourself. It's all the little bits of things that are easy to forget, but so vital to our lives as readers and librarians and humans.

10/31/2013 04:05:08 am

"Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing." This is one of the biggest mistakes some parents,teachers and librarians make. What's right for one child isn't for another. To each their own. Let them be. They will self-censor.

Helen Kline

10/31/2013 04:05:57 am

Parents need to be an example for their kids in reading as with everything else. If a parent doesn't show a child how pleasurable reading can be it will be much harder for the student to realize it.

Jean Kammer

10/31/2013 04:13:02 am

"... And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them."

The other day a parent was telling me about the book that finally got her son interested in reading. He was 14 at the time. She never gave up on trying to find a book that interested him. He is now an avid reader.

The Public Library is a great place to start since they have all genres of books to choose from. Once you find what they like, give them the option of owning a book. Some kids will read the same book over and over and there is something special about owning a book. I can't imagine life with out books.

Stephanie McElrath link

10/31/2013 04:20:06 am

Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them."

Books are masterpieces. They engage all of our senses. Watch a baby interact with one. Long live the book!

Jennifer Verbrugge

10/31/2013 04:33:01 am

I whole-heartedly agree with his comments about the power of kids learning that reading can be pleasurable and fun. "The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity." If we force them to read things they have no interest in, what motivation have they to pick up another book?

Sandy Brehl link

10/31/2013 05:37:34 am

I couldn't agree more. He spoke on NPR this AM, too, and is such an articulate advocate for all that is right and good in children's literature practices.

Ron Fowler link

10/31/2013 07:06:03 am

There is SO much in this speech that is so right on that it is difficult for any reader to pick a favorite quote. But, since I HAVE to pick ONE, here it is:"We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."
Like Mr. Gaiman, I do need to declare my bias; I am a Youth Services Librarian at a public library and I watch politicians "silence voices of the past and damage the future" every day. At the same time they say that that people don't need libraries anymore and use that to justify cuts, they'll say that people can go to the library for that. Whether it is internet access, tax forms, filling out healthcare forms or whatever, they expect us to do more with less and they NEVER account for what libraries & librarians do for families and children. The little township library that I used when I was a child did all of the things for me that Mr. Gaiman suggested in his talk and I honestly don't know where I would be without having had that experience. (Thank you, Mrs Hull!) I too, was respected as a reader. I have also found that that people who don't read much of anything fiction or otherwise don't imagine much either.
And, Thank you, Neil Gaiman, for reminding me of how important the work that I do is!

Jed Alexander link

10/31/2013 09:57:31 am

Definitely agree with what he has to say about reading for pleasure.

Worse than forcing a kid to read, is to chastise them for reading "below their reading level." Books are not math problems that you solve to get to the next level. Good literature is good literature, period. A good picture book does not cease being a good book when you're 10 instead of 8. It does not lose its value as literature.

The bottom line: let kids choose their own books.

GDK

10/31/2013 10:16:14 pm

"We all - adults and children, writers and readers - have an obligation to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing: an atom in a wall, a grain of rice in a rice field. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different."

Why: Because in this age with ubiquitous devices we actually have to be mindful about making sure there is even time in the day when daydreaming can possibly occur. Cars come with DVD players. School buses actually encourage the use of devices because it reduces discipline issues! I say get rid of them entirely on all forms of transportation, including airplanes! Look out the window, crank the radio, and let your mind do the rest. If you actually give your kids a chance to get a little bored in the first place, that’s when their own imaginative thoughts will kick into gear. If this topic interests you, you might also enjoy this interview by Bill Moyers:

http://billmoyers.com/segment/sherry-turkle-on-being-alone-together/

Jackie Merritt

11/2/2013 01:23:46 am

As I librarian I am so glad he included a mention of libraries. It amazes me that more people do not take advantage of their local libraries! For practically no cost a regular person from any walk-of-life can access books of all genres and reading range, not to mention other materials, programs, and reading discussions...
for me, there aren't enough hours in a day to read all of the books I'd like to.

Eli Rector

11/2/2013 12:18:47 pm

"everything you can see, including the walls, was, at some point, imagined."
What a great way to think about books. We are all essentially the products of someone else's imagination, that came down through history into us, through stories of some form or another. Not only are we all connected in our thoughts and words, but so too through our physical world. And what better representation of that - connection - than a book!

Kelly Depin

11/3/2013 05:18:00 am

So hard to choose but in this climate of government intrusion into our speech I have to say "But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information."

Libraries protect democracy. The education that occurs in a library probably exceeds most classrooms.

Pam Hansen

11/4/2013 01:15:11 am

"But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information."

As we change from physical books to electronic books, the "digital divide" grows. The library creates a bridge between the two sides as the library provides the equipment and the access to the digital information for those who cannot afford to have their own devices. The library is the gateway to information, and the librarians are the guides to information.

Catherine Barnett

11/4/2013 04:24:48 am

"We writers - and especially writers for children, but all writers - have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were - to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are."

My favorite books are those that do just this - where the exciting plots and the imagined worlds and the intriguing characters are more than an author simply trying to be clever (or sell books), and they dig into the deeper questions of life. The glittering icing and intricate decorations have their place, as long as the cake is good.

Jenna

11/4/2013 06:21:51 am

"Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy. It's tosh. It's snobbery and it's foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. A hackneyed, worn-out idea isn't hackneyed and worn out to them. This is the first time the child has encountered it. Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you."

It is mistake to force students to read only certain kinds of books or to criticize their reading choices. These are negative reactions to what should be a positive experience and process for all readers. As a new librarian, I try to encourage readers to find something that interests them no matter the grade level, author, or medium. Comics are great for all readers and can be complex, emotional, thought provoking and just plain old fun!

TOON Books

11/19/2013 03:37:35 am

The winner has been announced...see this post:
http://toon-books.weebly.com/3/post/2013/11/everyone-is-a-winnerand-thank-you-for-your-neil-gaiman-comments.html

Isaac link

11/20/2013 09:05:47 am

Books are solar powered and bath proof! so simple and makes me laugh every time I think about it!

Kevin

11/21/2013 12:48:38 am

I don't think it's "tosh" that comics help beginning readers read.
I believe it is very helpful with reading on a personal level.

There are several studies that show how the comic books relay information and how they are instrumental in helping people read.

If Neal wants to make a point about writing for kids he doesn't need to bring down that idea, only to fluff up his idea. How does he know
anyway? That's tosh.

Linda Pannuto

11/21/2013 01:40:06 am

I cannot believe I missed an opportunity to extol the wonders of a real book! I am not a total Luddite and have used electronic reading devices, but I am also a Children's librarian and it is the lack of human interaction from parents, who shove a book on a device into the hands of their children, that disturbs me the most. Where has all the human gone? I do not fear for the life of the book - the theater has survived TV and the salvation of mankind in most dystopian works still center on books - I fear the lack of human connectivity that seems to be the byproduct of the electronic age.

Gayle Benage

11/22/2013 05:24:22 am

I shared it with my whole faculty. Comic books build readers that develop vocabulary so much easier, their comprehension is built and they can infer wothout realizing they are doing it.

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Gaiman Delivers Compelling Lecture on the Importance of Reading and Libraries for Young People

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