Academics & Tuitions

Eleven volumes of manga in two weeks, and not one 'proper' book

amber_marigold_6068

In the last two weeks my daughter has read eleven volumes of manga, borrowed from a friend, in a stack by her bed. Nothing else. She's reading for hours, which I'd normally be delighted about. My mother thinks it's comics and doesn't count. My partner thinks reading is reading. I'm somewhere in between and a little suspicious of my own snobbery. Does this count as reading in the way that matters for school, or should I be nudging her towards novels before class 8 starts?

3 comments

  • hazel_camera_435

    Reading for hours in holidays. That is the result most of us want. I'd leave her be.

    • amber_marigold_6068

      You're probably right. My worry is mostly that next year's English has a full novel on the list and she's never finished a book without pictures. But a few weeks of manga won't undo anything.

  • amber_diary_225

    Is it in English originally, or translated from Japanese? I ask because my son reads comics too, and the translated ones have far richer vocabulary than I expected. Which series is she on?

    • peach_kettle_9848

      translated, almost always. my 12 yr old went through a manga year. the vocabulary was fine. what surprised me was how much he knew about japanese food at the end of it. he wanted to make onigiri every weekend

    • cinnamon_drum_5065

      teacher view: the kids who read manga usually read fast and follow complicated plots without trouble. where they struggle is long description with no pictures. if you want to nudge, find one novel with lots of dialogue and leave it lying around. don't assign it.

    • moss_pool_8034

      Leaving a book lying around has worked better for us than any reading list. My daughter won't touch anything I recommend, but she'll pick up whatever I've 'forgotten' on the sofa.

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