When my beautiful clever daughter was eight years old I had her tested for dyslexia and she scored ten out of ten. It didn’t seem right to me that for all her love of stories, she could not read a book without stumbling. There are various forms of dyslexia, but for her the ability to follow a pattern was hard. Any pattern. Like reading from left to right continuously. She simply does not see the page of a book like the majority of us do. I was determined to find ways to make reading beyond picture books a joyful experience for her.

This is what I learnt.

There are many ways to make reading easier for kids like my daughter. For example, I learnt by reading the Wimpy Kid series how underlining each line of text helps. It makes following the left-to-right pattern easier. I learnt through the Captain Underpants series that cartoons help. I learnt through Andy Griffith’s Just series that if the text is scattered over a page, the pressure to follow a pattern is less and the pleasure more. This knowledge kept us going for some time.

Nevertheless as she became older and her friends started reading more sophisticated books with smaller font (the size of the words actually has an impact on kids with learning differences) her confidence plummeted. She could not join in the conversations about vampires and kids who were spies. She wasn’t part of that gang that shared books. Until we discovered graphic novels. What an absolute joy.

One of the first graphic novel books I took home (one of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider stories in the graphic novel series) she read in one sitting! She had never done this before. The very nature of graphic novels means she doesn’t need to struggle through huge amounts of text devoted to scenery. The words are scattered over the page and she can access the drama of each character with confidence. She can follow the pictures.

My daughter is eleven now. She is still finding her own means to let those around her realise that she sees the world a little differently to them. It’s not easy to do. When you are young you don’t want to be different. It is made easier though when the book travelling through all her friend's bedrooms is her own copy of Twilight. The coolest book any of her friends have ever seen: the graphic novel version.

I’m grateful that we have found a genre of books that allows her to access the real joy of reading - the escaping part. I’m glad that the range of graphic novels is only growing and that for my girl, the one curled up on the couch engrossed in a book, her future as a reader is cemented.

In support of the Wheeler Centre's Drawing Out, Drawing In: Spotlight on Graphic Novels events happening this weekend, Readings has guest bloggers talking about Comics and Graphic Novels online every day this week. Tomorrow: Readings' own Andrew McDonald.