In my Grade 7 autobiography that I blogged about yesterday, I had written that I believed my vocabulary had doubled in the previous year, thanks to all of the comic books I was reading. It strikes me as strange that I'd have even considered such a thing at that young age, but I imagine that some teacher or other adult had probably put the idea in my head.
Anyway, wouldn't you know that today I'd see this article talking about a study here in Canada that presents evidence on how exposure to comic books is extremely helpful in improving the general reading comprehension of children, especially among boys. That surprises me not in the least, as my mother was always onside with the whole comic book collecting thing for exactly that reason: she believed that all of that voluntary and enthusiastic reading was doing wonders for me. I'm sure she'd have preferred that I were poring over classic literature or even mystery novels (her favourite genre), but at least I was improving my vocabulary, being introduced to new ideas, becoming a faster reader, and learning to think more deeply about the words crossing in front of my eyes. I think I'd be hard pressed to find another activity that shaped me as significantly as the mental consumption of all those thousands of comic books did!
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