After picking up 7 comic books with my 22 month old daughter last month on Free Comic Book Day, I decided to see what she thought about digital comics and picked up Sesame Street #1 by Ape Entertainment. I thought it would be great to continue to share the experiences my daughter and I enjoy while she grows and develops her love of reading; from board books to comics.
Writers: Jason M. Burns, Jay Fosgitt, Paul Morrissey, Patrick Storck
Artists: Scott Ball, Amy Mebberson, Jay Fosgitt, Scott Underwood, James Silvani, Ryan Davis, Misseri Studio
Publisher: Ape Entertainment
Age: All Ages
A quick followup to last month's article: my daughter now loves comic books. She'll ask, "Read comic book?", all the time: in the morning, afternoon, and at night. She loves the sequential art, she loves the stories, and she loves the feel of them in her hands. Most of the comics we picked last month at Crossover Comics for Free Comic Book Day are now wrinkled, torn, and taped. It's amazing to see her sitting in her chair, recounting the stories from memory; piecing the events together by following the art on the page.
All that being said, I tried to see if this new-found love for comics would translate to digital comics. I figured that digital comics would be more "durable", not being susceptible to ripping, even though the reading device itself might be slightly more fragile. The problem is, you can't flip back and forth as quickly or easily as you can with paper. Half the fun my daughter has with comics is reading them. Admittedly, she is a toddler and I have seen older kids able to navigate their way through a tablet with greater ease than their parents, but I believe there is a sense of enjoyment lost by going digital. The loss of the sense of touch effects the overall enjoyment of a comic book.
As for the actual content of the issue, it was quite disappointing. The backup stories contained in Sesame Street #1 were all pretty good, but the main story was identical to the story found in the Free Comic Book Day issue: Anatomy of a Hero. Not sure why Ape Entertainment would do that, especially since both issues hit the stores in the same week; but I will not let the issue's contents affect my feelings towards digital comics. If anything, being so similar makes the comparison easier. She has definitely asked to read the printed comic book way more than she has asked to read the digital version.
What I like about print issues for toddlers is physicalness of them. It teaches kids that paper is fragile, it helps them visualize the order of the story, and it can be read without as much supervision. The main reason we took our 22 month old daughter to Free Comic Book Day was to pick up free comics that we would not feel badly if she destroyed. She is transitioning from board book to regular paper books and I figured that it would be better if she learnt how fragile paper is with free books rather than books that we either purchased, or received as gifts.
When it comes to digital comics for young children, I would recommend having a couple issues saved to your phone or tablet to be able to pull out in a pinch. It is very convenient to be able to carry around a small library of comics in your back pocket for when you get stuck in traffic, are in a waiting room, or any other time that you might say to yourself, "I wish I had packed a book?!' Another issue I have with digital comics is bright screen before bed. Children, as well as humans in general, should avoid bright screens at least an hour before bed. The light they emit confuses the body into thinking it is still daytime. It is for this reason that our bedtime reading is always done with print book.
Digital might be the cheaper, more easily accessible option for adults, but from my experience for children especially toddlers, print is the way to go for day-to-day reading.