Teachable Comics: Middletown Teacher Tapped to Illustrate Big Fat Notebooks Series

Not only does Middletown High School teacher Chris Pearce teach English Literature to students, but he also draws comics on his daily experiences. In fact, Workman Publishing of the Big Fat Notebook series noticed his art and asked him to illustrate its textbooks: Everything You Need to Ace Computer Science and Coding, Everything You Need to Ace Math, and Everything You Need to Ace Science.

The Big Fat Notebook series is aimed for Middle School students, but Mr. Pearce finds comics are a great way to support literacy in all students, across all grades. Much like a notebook, this series is written with fun illustrations, kid-friendly font, and easy to understand tips and tricks. 

Pearce says besides comics being fun to read, “the mixing of words and pictures allow for a great support for students who are growing readers.”

In Pearce’s 9th grade English class, in addition to traditional books, short stories, and poetry, he includes comics in his lessons. Students learn Maus by Art Spiegelman and My Friend Dahmer written and drawn by Ohio native Derf Backderf.

While Pearce provides illustrations for the Big Fat Notebook, he isn’t ruling out one day publishing his own comic book collection. Middies could expect a release date as soon as next year.  

“I have not published my comics yet but I have an eye on 2021 for a collection of some of my older work. I’m also working on a new graphic novel about education during the Coronavirus outbreak,” said Pearce.

For now, students and the community can enjoy Pearce’s original comics on his website https://chrispearce.wordpress.com/ andhttps://teachmoments.tumblr.com/.