Reading With Pictures Partners With Top Educational Press For Graphic Textbook

Reading With Pictures, a nonprofit that advocates the use of comics in the classroom, and Lorenz Educational Press, a publisher of supplemental educational products, announced today that they are teaming up to bring The Graphic Textbook, an educational comics anthology aligned with the Common Core Standards, to schools and libraries worldwide. The Graphic Textbook will be available starting in 4th Quarter, 2013, with future releases planned for 2014 and beyond. The Graphic Textbook, which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign for $75,000, is tied to a major impact study overseen by the Dr. David Rapp of the Dept. of Psychology and School of Education & Social Policy at Northwestern University. Reading With Pictures is now partnering with Lorenz Educational Press to secure additional venture capital investment. If successful, the two companies plan to work together to produce an entire line of content-area and grade-level specific comics anthologies modeled after The Graphic Textbook. Aimed at grades 3-6, The Graphic Textbook will feature a dozen short stories that address topics in a variety of disciplines. The accompanying Teacher's Guide will include standards-based lesson plans for each story and research-based justifications for using comics in the classroom. "Lorenz Educational Press is one of the most respected names in the field of educational supplements, with over 120 years of experience," said Josh Elder, President and Founder of Reading With Pictures. "We can't imagine a better publishing partner to help ensure that The Graphic Textbook reaches every classroom, library and home that needs it." You can read an interview ComicBook.com conducted with Elder about The Graphic Textbook here. "We're very pleased to partner with Reading with Pictures and their initial project, The Graphic Textbook, to help fill an important need in education," said Geoff Lorenz, Chairman of Lorenz Educational Press. "So many elementary students struggle with developing their reading skills, and Reading with Pictures' mission to get 'comics into schools and schools into comics' is one we fully support. Comics not only help reluctant readers with comprehension skills, but research tells us students using them also tend to read more. We believe the new publications from Reading with Pictures will be game-changers in the educational products market as they provide an effective solution for teachers helping students become better readers."