By: Casea Smith | @coffewithkrow 

We have recommended many panels that explain the benefits of graphic novels being used as an educational tool for children. This panel seems like it will be just the same, however, I feel that it has an interesting perspective as it comes from the creators themselves. They explain the process of taking books worthy of research and condensing it into a digestible comic for children, while also making sure to treat the audience with respect by not talking down to them. They cover the ways in which they don’t shy away from topics such as Harriet Tubman’s life as a slave or the horrible working conditions under Walt Disney, while also knowing how to balance those ideas and when it may be too much (i.e. omitting the artists being chained to their desks at Disney).

One thing that was mentioned that I feel showed how invested the creators are is their color-coding structure, like how the yellow speech bubbles are an indication that an actual quote is being used. Since the color is reminiscent of yellowing old paper from a historical text, it helps to make the quote stand out.

The panel is a little over 44 minutes long in total, and it goes by very quickly as it hooks you in with fascinating, yet informative details. As such, I highly recommend watching it to learn a bit about how to respectfully inform your audience. (And, who knows, you may also learn about different visual ways of getting information across!)