Monday, April 06, 2009

Linky Dinks

Chris Wilson @ The Graphic Classroom just wrote a very thoughtful and in depth review of my book 'Another Dirt Sandwich' advocating it's vocabulary teaching potential, something I had offhandedly thought of but never seriously considered until he talked about it:

Please give it a read if you're in the mood for that sort of thing! I'll definately be quoting it on future back covers.

"To leave the book behind without giving it its due would be a serious mistake on the part of the teacher, librarian or parent. ANOTHER DIRT SANDWICH has so much to offer a child and it should be seriously considered."

Also! Webcomics reviews: I said I'd be doing them, recommending some good all ages webcomics. Here's the trouble: There don't seem to be that many, at least as far as I am aware. I read a number of webcomics every morning, and while there are plenty I enjoy, I wouldn't classify too many of them as being 'kid friendly' -- Please leave links in the comments and prove me wrong, I'd love to discover some new interesting webcomics. I feel the internet is still primarily the domain of collegey age people mostly, they have the free time and technical skills. While elementary age kids do use the internet, they still like to go outside and play too (a definate good thing I think).

I talked about this before a couple of posts ago, and got emailed by a Mr Caanan Grall who draws the webcomic 'Celadore' on Zuda -- saying his was an all ages webcomic, and would I recommend it to our readers? I said I'd give it a flip through, and if I liked it, I would. I haven't read it all yet, merely skimmied it (hooray for no real free time) and while it is well illustrated, he obviously knows what he's doing, and involves what appears to be children-vampire hunters, I can't honestly say it looks that 'All Agesy' -- if it were a movie, I'd say it would be rated PG 13 for action violence and some language (I saw several swears as I skimmed -- can't say they bug ME, but I'm all adultish, can't honestly recommend that sort of thing to children -- If your comfortable letting your kids watch The Simpsons, I'm sure you'd find it fine. Each person has their own taste on this sort of thing, to each their own.

So there you go Caanan! Wasn't the heartiest of recommendations, but I've done my part to help get you noticed.

I'll dig through my bookmarks, if I hunt around a bit, I'm sure there are some real KIDS style webcomics I just haven't remembered yet.

Stay tuned!

4 comments:

Brigid said...

Hi Ray! I've been enjoying your posts here—it's nice to see the site come back to life. Here are some kids' webcomics suggestions for you:

Weesh, by Dan Hess—check the links for his other all ages webcomics as well.

Sandra and Woo—this one gets bonus points for mentioning the Fields Medal!

M.I.M.E.S. Two words: Superhero mimes. Nuff said?

Nemu-Nemu Super-cute talking dogs!

Kidjutsu This is a website that aggregates lots of kids' webcomics. It's a great starting point.

Sugary Serials Another aggregator with a more clearly defined concept.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of these!

Brigid from Good Comics for Kids

Ray Friesen said...

Hi Brigid!

Thank you for the recommendations!

I allready read Sandra and Woo, don't know why they didn't spring to mind. M.I.M.E.S I've heard of, but never actually read (guess what I'm going to start doing?) Sugary Serials, ditto. Kidjutsu, I talked about a few posts ago. I'm going to be posting some of my stuff on there, whilst browsing around reading their other fun content.

The other ones had not crossed my path whatsoever, so, boy do I hope I have some free time soon!

Thanks very much! I think I'm going to start doing a web-comic recommendation a week, this gives me an excellent place to start.

Talkin Bout Comics said...

I ran a comics badge for my Girl Scout troop recently, and one of the things I wanted to do was give them a good variety of sources for free comics. The Library is #1 and I thought WebComics would be in the #2 slot. Aside from Kidjutsu and Patrick Scullin's Super Siblings http://bansheecomics.com/ss_issue_01/ss_01.htm?key=IRBnevdh&formname=refer_a_friend I really had no luck.

Canaan is a great guy, and Celadore is an amazing strip. I wouldn't call it all ages, but I would call it 'many ages' I have a 9 year old daughter and a 15 year old, and they LOVE it. Parents should read it first, and determine if it is right for their kids. Anyone that watches prime time tv on regular channels... should be able to handle Celadore, at least with parental guidance. I a anxious to see what other sites people recommend. - Rob

Leanne Opaskar said...

Hiya Ray!

Just found out about KidsLoveComics at ComicCon this weekend. I'm delighted to see that there are more folks working to create and promote kid-friendly comics.

I write and draw an all-ages webcomic, called Saijiki Stories, a collection of seasonal fairy-tale-style stories. Autumnside is the the first story, featuring a young girl and a pumpkin-headed scarecrow, attempting to discover the secret of a mysterious glowing ball. It is completed. Winterside is in progress now, and will be followed by Springside and Summerside.

I invite you to come check it out! (: Hope you enjoy!