Three Little Pigs- Comic Strips and Raymond Briggs Research
- willikoms
- Nov 12, 2020
- 2 min read
RAYMOND BRIGGS
Following the pictures: wordless comics for children
"Another early and much better-known example of the crossover between silent comics and children’s books is found in the work of Raymond Briggs. In 1978, he created the book The Snowman, about a snowman who comes to life. In an essay called ‘Picturebooks, Comics and Graphic Novels’, Mel Gibson points out ‘The Snowman, seen as a “classic” picturebook that uses comic strip form, offers a number of challenges to definitions of each medium, as it can simply be seen as a wordless comic’ (2010, 106). The Snowman was a much-hailed children’s book, despite using traditional comics ‘vocabulary’ such as panels. Briggs was already a popular creator of children’s books, and reviewers did not seem to want to associate his work with the still stigmatised and lowbrow form of comics. Gibson mentions: ‘picturebooks have usually, although not exclusively, been seen in a positive light within the discipline of education. In contrast, comics … have frequently attracted concern within that same disciplinary space’ (103). She continues:
In relation to readership, … the picturebook is seen as something that can help foster a child’s understanding, especially when shared with an adult. Comics, in contrast, are seen as one of the first types of text that a child owns, to be read either alone or shared with friends; they are seen as more a part of children’s own culture. Moreover, it is of note that comics are seen as independent reading, whereas picturebooks are usually enjoyed with assistance from an adult, suggesting that the former are for those with superior reading skills – although, ironically, comics are often stigmatized. (104)" https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/21504857.2014.943541
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