Stay TOONED

     As the title infers, today's blog will be a childish romp through the world of cartoon comics, or funnies, as they used to call them as I was growing up.  Reading the Sunday comics every weekend as we ate a late morning breakfast was a time honored childhood tradition in my family, and one that I would love to share with my own children someday as an early form of literacy, should the opportunity still be present even 5 years from now.  Unfortunately with newspapers, in general, becoming obsolete...comics have similarly fallen out of fashion.  I have a dear personal friend, who, just a decade and a half ago, was dreaming of a career in illustration.  He is a Charles Schulz enthusiast who believes in the value of the hard work that was put into the 'classics' of the comic age.  The Peanuts are headed for a re-vamp with a new CGI movie, and thank goodness the holiday specials have not slipped in ratings, but the comic strip doesn't seem to be bridging the gap into the new millennium, at least in my experience.  Well, enter a NEW HOPE, Toondoo.com.  

     Toondoo is a do-it-yourself comic creator with easy controls and clip art graphics that you can 'flip', re-size, and otherwise personalize and combine to make your own simple strip.  I experimented with this program tonight and I had a blast.  This is definitely something I would use in the beginning of the school year as an ice breaker.  I would show the students some home made comics that portray children's riddles and have a good laugh to get started on the right foot.  Later on in the year the children could use the program to create their own simple comics.  The children will be proud to show off their work and it will promote literacy throughout the classroom as we read the comics together.  I am so happy that this website exists.  Laughing is such a positive and healthy thing.  It sheds calories, boosts moods, and creates bonds between individuals.  Also, I've watched children read many times, and I have observed that children are most motivated to read when there are laughs in store.  I've seen children move through a full length book that was rip-roaringly hilarious and turn and around and read it again because they truly enjoyed it and it kept their attention.  I feel that the same can be attained through this program.

     So if you have any young minds in your life that you feel are in need of some 'traditional literary education', CARTOONS!!! =-D, sign up for a free account with Toondoo and discover the illustrator in you.  Here is a strip that I created.