Chapter 4 Responding to Books Through Talk, Art, Writing, Drama, Movement, and Music

Initial Responses Since we all see different things as we read, it isn’t appropriate to expect each reader to notice the same details or even view characters in the same way, especially after just a first reading. To get a closer look at the process of how we read and how we make sense of text, let’s look at two very different responses to the same book: We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past, written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Diane Greenseid. The boxed feature Response to First Reading of a Book: A Response Log for a Picture Book contains my responses to the picture book as I read it for the first time, including the things I was conscious of noticing and reacting to as I read. Then the boxed feature Response to First Reading of a Book: A College Student’s Response gives the response of a college student to the same text.

No map shows how to write a response log, since we cannot preplan a reader’s response. Although the process actually happens very quickly in your head as you read, it would take a long time to write down your responses to every book you read. However, it is rewarding to write down your responses at least once, just to see what’s embedded in them. As adults, we need to understand our responses to literature and see how our histories influence our reading. In my response to the picture book, I react to the use of bright color and the portrayal of people as “real” physically—not just the pencil-thin beauties we see in magazines. I notice the lack of gender and ethnic stereotyping. I respond to the strong women and notice particularly the interactions among the characters and how they treat each other. The fresh, direct language also appeals to me. I feel invited into the story and can locate myself easily within the story. Reading the college student’s response startled me a bit and made me realize that I cannot predict what will attract the attention of others. I have to admit that I hadn’t even noticed that quotation marks were not used and that conversations were run together. I was interested in his advice that, for children to understand the book, readers would have to slow their reading down.

A Response Log for a Picture Book

Jacqueline Woodson,We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past, illustrated by Diane Greenseid. [Note: Langer’s (1995) stances, Keene and Zimmermann’s (1997) connections, and Claggett’s (1996) behaviors are indicated in parentheses.] Cover. Wow, I love these bright big colors—the purples, reds, blues, greens, and browns. This looks as if it will be a happy book about a family picnic (Stance 1—getting into the story world). I like that the black woman and girl in the forefront are kind of heavy and that they are smiling and seem glad to be together. The children carrying food in the background with their beads, hats, and baggy pants look and dress like the children I knew at the school where I taught (Stance 2—immersed in the story world; text to self). In the first picture, Grandma is shown as an active, assertive person who loves being with her granddaughter. The park in the background has people of several shades of color having a nice day in the park. Children are chasing children or playing ball or walking their dogs or reading. Adults are sitting happily under a tree, others are setting up a picnic table with food, and one mother walks a baby (Stance 2—immersed in the story world). Energy leaps off the page. Already this book reminds me of the joy in being together that I found in Mama, Do You Love Me?, by Barbara M. Joosse. Next, Grandma makes a big show of putting her food out and brags about her granddaughter. It bothers me that she compliments her on being pretty and on the dress that Grandma had made for her (Stance 2—immersed in the story world; cultural and/or psychological nuances, Claggett). Do we ever compliment girls on anything else (questioning, Claggett)? Grandma says, “Got up at four this morning to make this chicken. Best batch I ever fried” (retelling specific passages to validate ideas, Claggett). She sounds like someone I would like and could relate to because she’s so down-to- earth and matter-of-fact and doesn’t use language as a barrier to keep others out (Stance 3—stepping out of the story world; cultural nuances, Claggett; text to self). On the following spread, the big bold picture of Grandma and granddaughter takes up most of the two pages. It’s easy to see the affection the child has for her grandma as Grandma is going over how she should behave. Don’t we all do that as parents (Stance 3—stepping out; text to self)? Grandma warns her that although Cousin Martha will probably bring the same kind of dried-out pie that she brings each year, the grandchild should eat it so as not to hurt Cousin’s feelings. I notice the language here and the colorfulness of the description (Stance 4—analysis). “Says she thinks Cousin Martha scares the stove into baking bad.” This page makes me laugh. Aunt Sadie is shown full of life and energy as she screams when she finds flies on her sweet cob corn. Those corn-on-the-cob pictures make me hungry even if there are plastic flies on them (Stance 3—stepping out)! Then her second cousin’s son Jefferson shows how cool he thinks he is with his turned-around baseball cap, sunglasses, oversized shirt, and baggy pants (Stance 2—immersed in the story world). He reminds me of some of the children I had at my school who had that show-off attitude in them (text to self). The rest of the family at the picnic table is having a good time with each other, while other people play in the background. I like it that these children are shown as nonthreatening, neat children. I get so tired of only reading and seeing African Americans portrayed in the media as threats or in crisis (Stance 4—analysis; cultural

A College Student’s Response Jacqueline Woodson,We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past, illustrated by Diane Greenseid. [Note: Langer’s (1995) stances, Keene and Zimmermann’s (1997) connections, and Claggett’s (1996) behaviors are indicated in parentheses.] I read the book We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past. I’m not exactly sure what I am supposed to cover, so I’ll just explain how I felt about it in general. For starters, I really like the illustrations. The colors Diane Greenseid uses are great—very bright. The combination of bright purples, oranges, and greens works very well. They seem to add to the happy mood of the story (Stance 4—analysis). I also like the way the illustrator treats the “portraits”—they are done in a way that reflects the way one would expect to see the characters (aesthetic appreciation of text, Claggett). For example, when Grandma is being described—blue dress with all those flowers on it— that is exactly how I pictured her (visualizing characters or scenes, Claggett). She has that tremendous purple hat with all the flowers on it, too. In other words, all of the characters seem to have personality (demonstrating emotional engagement, Claggett). I really liked this aspect of the book, and I believe that children will also. Now although the story is entertaining, I found it difficult to read (Stance 4— analysis).Maybe difficult is not the best word, but I found myself rereading a lot of it. I think it is because dialog is mixed in many of the sentences without the use of quotation marks (Stance 4—analysis). I would be reading along, and would have to stop and say to myself “HUH?” and back up a sentence or two (Stance 1—getting into the story world). Another factor that contributed to this was the author’s writing style. It seems to be fragmented, not in complete sentences (Stance 4—analysis). Then add in the fact that there is dialog thrown in without quotation marks to distinguish it and it can be quite confusing. For example: “Pretty-boy Trevor walking into that park with a handful of nothing. Can’t eat air, I whispered to Paulette. Don’t be a smartie, Grandma said, but you know she was thinking the exact same thing. Cousin Trevor picked daisies as he strutted up, talking about daisies for all the pretty ladies”(relating specific passages to validate ideas, Claggett). This is exactly as it was written. It is not hard to understand, but I think it would be difficult for a child that this book is aimed at (Stance 4—analysis). They would understand it, but maybe after slowing down and rereading it a few times. The way this book was written— it’s like the little girl is talking directly to us—I think this could possibly be a little confusing for a child. It makes for slower reading because it is written differently (Stance 4—analysis). Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it’s just something that I noticed. Maybe a child would like this type of style and would read through it easily, it’s just that I didn’t (Stance 4—analysis). I did enjoy the book (especially the illustrations) as well as the overall “bright/happy” feeling that it conveyed.