Monday, January 30, 2012

Classroom Buzz For Fangbone

I passed my arc of Fangbone on to a family member who teaches reading, primarily to children who need some extra instruction in the subject. I was aware that she had a student who is interested in becoming a cartoonist, and Fangbone is a graphic novel.

I learned this weekend that the first time he read the book, the boy didn't get much out of it. But he read it a second time, at which point it was clear that he was comprehending and enjoying what he was reading. In fact, he became an enthusiastic fan, anxious to read the second volume in the series (which has already been published) and wondering why their school library didn't own those two books. (Our family member suggested that he write to the librarian about the issue.) Not to worry. The young man's father purchased Kindle versions of both the first two Fangbones, so they're available whenever he wants them.

This boy is so taken with this book and has discussed it so often that now other children in his class, children who don't have difficulty reading, are interested in reading it. Our family member also thought it was noteworthy that this is a class of fourth graders, and the book is set in a third-grade classroom. She wouldn't have necessarily expected kids to be interested in reading about characters who are younger than they are. Certainly conventional wisdom tells us that children read up, not down.

But evidently the little barbarian in Fangbone can deal with that issue.

4 comments:

Sandra McLeod Humphrey said...

That is just so cool--that's why we children's writers write!

Gail Gauthier said...

I thought the story was both moving and practical. It was terrific to hear about a child so enthused about reading a book, but the title involved also got a lot of promotion among those kids and even generated a couple of sales. The buzz may move on to the school's librarian and other professionals in the building. Since it's the first book in a series, getting some name recognition is important for the books that will be published down the line.

Perogyo said...

This is amazing! Word of mouth isn't just a marketing buzzword.

Michael Rex said...

Thanks for taking the time to pass the book along, and to report on the outcome. I really appreciate it.---Mike Rex