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I love a good classic car. After all, I named my son Holden.
But the definition of a classic in literature may be changing. Breaking news… (insert dramatic music) last year, librarians and teachers bought more than 17,000 copies* of The Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea. surpassed To Kill a Mockingbird as the best-selling book of the year for the first time in Follett history.
Is it because it's funny? Probably.
Is it because it's a graphic novel? It's quite possible.
Is it because the popular series is a way for children to escape reality? Maybe.
Dav Pilkey's award-winning graphic novel series, published by Scholastic, featuring a crime-fighting half-dog, half-man protagonist, has won over student readers in recent years, and each new title is almost guaranteed to be a best-seller even before its release.
According to the New York librarian facebook.com/groups/573023046218945/user/1438516415/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZXFsH2Is_AoD_U6tPBT1ETXeDCZvlQwtxU1bhFTPu-_N1MQdmmhvJsX9SJkMji0lIa5Wb1TZQd63v2I0a-6vagSR5sOFj3KNkNs63Nto-WJAfFma-CRO9snWjeffcENclEyzvgI2dNPsVHEs7P3h16d-73lfYPxINqjUfTDvVpoXMMNRrQ7O05Ve5aKfRE2idA&__tn__=R%5d-R” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Thomasine Susengill Mastrantoni“My students (and I) love the control and power that Dav Pilkey gives to the KIDS at the beginning of the story,” she explained. “At the age of Dog Man readers, so much of the kids’ lives are directed by adults. Allowing the two main characters (the kids) to make the decisions is awesome. We also like filling in the blanks. Figuring out what’s going on in the spaces between the panels increases our inference and critical thinking skills. Plus, we laugh out loud so often throughout the stories.”
Graphic novels have come a long way from a time not so long ago when educators and parents did not consider them “official” books. That has changed. A quick survey of parents on my social media wall confirmed the love for Dog man and Dog man-I like the titles because they are simple and fun.
A parent told me that Lily, who will be starting second grade this fall, loves Dog man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Great Nate, and Cat Kids Comic Club Because there are images that accompany the words and the stories are full of action.
Another parent told me that Finn, who is going into third grade, thinks that… Dog man It's hilarious, but he also loves that he can be a character, his mom can be a character, and they can read together. He's expanding his reading list to FGTeeV graphic novels
Educators agree. According to some research, 64 percent of best-selling titles in grades 3-6 are graphic novels. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Babysitters Club and Dog man are the three best-selling series, all of them graphic novels. If we add manga to that, we find a cult following among children.
Whether it's a graphic novel or a traditional literary genre, librarians and teachers know that their students fall in love with the characters in a series. Sixty-eight percent of The 25 best-selling titles are part of popular series such as:
- Amulet
- The last children on Earth
- Wings of fire
- I survived
- Dog man
- The bad ones
- The wild robot
- The dove
- The food group
Why are these educational book sales trends important? As a country, we have a literacy crisis. According to the Nation's Report Card“The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found that two-thirds of fourth- and eighth-graders cannot read proficiently. The average reading score for fourth-grade students is the lowest it has been in more than 20 years. For eighth- and twelfth-graders, average scores are near their lowest level in 30 years.”
If you can't read, learning will be a lifelong struggle. And in a world where reality can be terrifying, books can provide an escape. So even in an educational setting, I'm not surprised that 23 of the 25 best-selling titles in the last quarter were fiction. So while school pranks, fart jokes, and a principal in his underwear may not be Pulitzer Prize-winning literature, these popular graphic novels are getting students reading, which is half the battle.
What are educational publishers doing about this? They are producing more of what educators are looking for. All of the publishers I spoke to last year are publishing more decodable books to help early readers decode new words and build a foundation for literacy. And for elementary and middle school readers, all publishers are looking for the next book. Dog man, Captain Underpants, or manga-type graphic novel series.
Does that mean? To Kill a Mockingbird Is it less relevant in the educational landscape? Absolutely not. It remains one of the most read books on middle and high school required reading lists.
But hopefully, because of the industry's continued investment in books, students who are learning to read, want to read, and more students will be able to read. To Kill a Mockingbird When the time comes.
*According to Follett Content Solutions' 2023 Annual and 2024 Quarterly Trends Reports
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