Jimmy Gownley is a cartoonist who cares. With ‘Amelia Rules!’ he set out to create a comic with classic comic strip sensibilities that did not talk down to kids. His success at this is overwhelming. Jimmy is a co-founder of Kids Love Comics!, an organization that promotes literacy through comics. Something I can certainly relate to and support.

The reason I began this post by introducing Amelia and Jimmy to you is because, obviously, I think they are incredible. But also because a story in the fourth volume, ‘When the Past is a Present‘ really hit home for me. The story is called ‘The Things I Cannot Change’. This is a story of how one of the kids in Amelia’s school is dealing with her father being sent to war.

Lately, I have been putting in a loooot of hours preparing for inventory at the store, and I was feeling a little down in the dumps about that. Fifteen hour overnight shifts don’t leave much for family time, and I could tell that it was hitting my two year old pretty hard. I explained to her that work was how I got money for toys and food. She pushed me out of the door that night, but I still felt terrible.

I then read ‘The Things I Cannot Change’ and it put things in perspective for me. At least I wasn’t getting deployed. My family wasn’t seeing me as often as I’d like, but they were seeing me. I was still tickling the two year old at least once a day! My heart has always gone out to the men and women fighting for our rights, but sometimes it takes a reminder that my own life isn’t as bad as all that. Amelia reminded me in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time. And then she made me laugh, which is a wonderful thing.

As previous posts have indicated, I really make every attempt at staying positive. I don’t see a need to stress because that just locks me up and keeps me from taking care of the business at hand. But sometimes, I do let things get to me. At these times when most people feel like picking up a bottle, I reach for a comic book. Boy, did I pick up the right one this time!

Anyone who pays a little bit of attention has noticed that comic books really aren’t for kids anymore. Gone are the days of going in to your local grocery/convenience store and picking up the latest adventures of your favorite caped do-gooders. You might find an Archie Digest still on the checkout lane, but it will generally be placed out of the reach of children. I’m not sure who they’re marketed to, nostalgic parents? Truthfully at this point, nostalgic grandparents! Old Archie hasn’t done the best job of keeping up with the times…

If you want to purchase a comic, you have to find the local comic shop. If you don’t know where it is,  just look in the bad part of town. You’ll find your four-color heroes in that little hole-in-the-wall next to the donut place. I know I’m profiling here, but comic shops aren’t exactly located where you would want your kid hanging out, generally speaking.

As for content, even the staple heroes such as Superman and Spider-Man have much more realistic violence and adult themes. Luckily, Marvel long ago instituted a ratings system that will at least warn you of some of the content inside, but it seems the all ages category is pretty small.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the more adult stories for myself. I just wish that there were more comic stories I could share with the entire family.

Have no fear, true believers!

Amelia Rules!, however, truly does rule. Best of all, it absolutely does not talk down to the kids, and it's hilarious to adults!

As I mentioned in the post with my first webcomic, I gave a shout out to Kids Love Comics, an organization that promotes literacy through comics. Jimmy Gownley, one of the co-founders of KLC, is the creative force behind the Amelia Rules! comics, the perfect argument for all ages comics that truly all ages can enjoy.

Today, I was in a local toy store in Eagle, CO called Kidtopia, and I found small books called Phonics Comics, published by innovativeKids. These cute little comic stories are written so that they promote phonetic learning, while still keeping the content light and fun.

Phonics Comics: educational AND fun!

I am a firm believer in the comic book medium and it’s ability to create excitement about reading in young readers. I know they did that for me. So seeing these organizations and products out there gives me hope that kids will still be able to enjoy comics for generations to come.

Fahrenheit 451 cover courtesy of amazon.com

If you’ve read Ray Bradbury‘s brilliant ‘Fahrenheit 451‘, you probably still have visions in your head of homes being destroyed because they dared to have books inside them. I know I do. That’s why an entry at bookshopblog really disturbed me. In their post, ‘Book burning on Feb. 10th 2009 due to CPSIA‘, they claim that according to new CPSIA laws, a book store or library can not sell or distribute items that do not have a certificate stating that they have been tested and proclaimed lead-free. Furthermore, this law is retroactive, meaning that even if the item was published fifty years ago, if it hasn’t been tested, you can’t distribute it!

What Does This Mean?

This means that you can’t trust anything. Even books. Destroy everything you own! (Not really, calm down and keep reading.)

I found another bit of reporting over at kreelanwarrior.com. In the post ‘Lead In Books – Another Reason To Get An Amazon Kindle‘, Michael R. Hicks makes the point that all this talk of lead in books should push everyone to buy an Amazon Kindle. He was immediately rebuked by his readers, who told him that books were lead-free. He posted a correction on the blog, but kept the entry there to preserve the discussion.

There’s a lot of information and misinformation out there concerning this topic. Just scan the folks talking about this at twitter!

Bottom line that I’ve discerned from all of this? 

Books are safe. Give them to your kids. Read them to your kids. Talk about them with your kids. They need books to awaken their imagination!

While I’m on the subject of books, there’s a great organization co-founded by Jimmy Gownley that I’d like to give a shout out to. It’s called Kids Love Comics, and they promote literacy through comics and sequential art. I remember comics being a huge part of my life growing up. (Who am I kiddin, they’re a huge part NOW!) They increased my vocabulary and got the creative juices flowing. When I did (do) pick up a novel or some other book without pictures, I could often imagine the art that would be in the comic version even more so than I could see the film. So to hear that there is actually an organization that promotes such things, all I can say is bravo! And. Let’s not let Fahrenheit 451 happen to us!