Comic books appeal to kids and adults, alike, with stories of action, comedy, and adventure that take us on journeys of our imaginations. They can also be used to help kids learn how to read. Readingpartners.org reported a very cool story about doing just that.

Perry McAlister, site coordinator at Moravia Park Elementary School with Reading Partners Baltimore. He had been evaluating the reading skills of a little girl named Diana when he noticed that she was sad and frustrated when she tried to read. He decided to try to make reading fun and introduced her to Wonder Woman, his favorite superhero. “I read Sensation Comics #9 to her and it was love at first sight. She completely fell in love with the character and the idea of the character,” McAlister said.

He went on to say that she was able to move on to reading chapter books and is challenging her own reading abilities. He even made a Wonder Woman emblem for Diana to wear to give her courage while at the reading center. “It’s become her rallying cry. It’s something she takes pride in and it makes her feel special. So much of her struggle has been her confidence. I look at her, and I see a kid that has so much potential, spirit, and heart,” he said.

McAlister has seen many other kids at Moravia Park become motivated to improve their reading skills due to interest in comics. In fact, comics are the most popular books in the reading center’s Take Reading Home library. In an effort to build the center’s library of age-appropriate comics he has been researching online.

He has been receiving assistance from Geppi’s Entertainment Museum (GEM), who has donated a collection of comics to Reading Partners of Baltimore. “We at GEM are dedicated to our community, and we are all about reading whether it is comics or just books,” GEM Sales Manager Sharonda Quick said.

GEM became interested in supporting Reading Partners after learning about the nonprofit at a Baltimore Tourism Association event. “My associate and I decided that it would be awesome to do a book drive and that’s where [the partnership] began,” Quick said.

She went on to say that comics help kids engage in reading because they can learn by seeing the action and relate to the characters.

“[Comics deliver] the idea of doing the impossible and being more than yourself. I think our kids, who have the odds stacked against them, need that,” McAlister said.