Would you like a fun summer writing project to do with your child? Why not create a comic?

Comics and graphic novels are legitimate forms of art and writing, and for visual people, they can be more accessible or relatable. And they require thought and good design to be interesting.

This spring, a girl I’ve been tutoring in writing for years made one with my help. First, we wrote the storyboard. Then we laid it out in ComicBook!, an iPad app, with dialogue embedded in bubbles we would edit later to fit the photos. Finally, we took the photos to fit the storyline, editing them with effects to make them look like a comic book.

Not only was the student completely engaged every step of the way, but her younger brother was almost addicted to the process. If we didn’t produce a page that week, he pestered her all week until our next session.

We completed the comic in our last session of the summer, and her parents agreed to let me post it here for your enjoyment. Please leave a comment if you would like to know more about the process, or if you create one of your own!

View or download The Danger of Being Bored here (PDF, ~9 MB).