FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Comic books are showing up in local classrooms as part of an unconventional program to help children learn how to read.

NewsCenter 5's Bianca De La Garza reported that the principal of the Fall River Alternative High School said the comics, including the Scooter McDoogal series, are very popular at his school.

"I think the biggest sign of success is that the kids are stealing them. Those are the only textbooks that have been stolen out of the school," Principal Omari Walker said.

Walker's students struggle with literacy, but the colorful books featuring characters from Greek mythology appeal to them.

"There is an Earth boy named Neil 'Scooter' McDoogal," said Joe Fitzpatrick, of Education Comics. "It's a comic book, but it's made into an educational book, so it's not like a Spiderman comic book you pick up."

Creators know some schools are skeptical about using comics in the classroom. But after 37 year of teaching, Leo Stebbene said he has never seen anything make kids love reading like this.

"It was something they hated to do. It was not instilled to them. They were turned off, and somehow, this turned them on," Stebbene said.

Former New England Patriots player Christian Fauria, a friend of Walker's, reads the Scooter McDoogal comics with his four children. Fauria is so convinced that the comics work that he is investing in the company and giving the books to his children's Cumberland, R.I., school district.

"Every teacher has that fine line of how much fun, how much content. I think this is accomplishing both," Fauria said.

Education Comics, the company that publishes Scooter McDoogal, is offering a free set of the comics to any school that wants to try them out with their students.