"VISITING DAY"

Woodson, J., & Ransome, J. (2002). Visiting day. New York: Scholastic Press.

Readability Lexile: AD1430L

Target Audience: Ages 4 and up

Setting: Home, A bus, and Prison

Theme: Maintaining relationships with an incarcerated family member

Characters: A little girl, her Grandma, and her Dad

Visiting Day is about a little girl living with her Grandma and the real life struggle of dealing with a parent in prison. On Visiting Day, Grandma prepares food for the long bus ride to visit her Father in prison. As the little girl and her grandmother get ready for visiting day, her father, who adores her, is getting ready, too. 

The community of families who take the long bus ride upstate to visit loved ones share hope and give comfort to each other. Love knows no boundaries, and this is a story of strong families who understand the meaning of unconditional love. As a Father, I know that there is no distance that can separate the love of a Father for his daughter. Visiting Day is a heartwarming story that mirrors life for many today. 

This story is based on memories of Woodson visiting her uncle in prison when she was a young girl. The illustrations paint a vivid picture of a caring Grandma, a loving Father in prison, and an equally loving daughter who bubbles over with anticipation. Several pages have no words, but the pictures as they say, are worth a thousand words. 

Woodson accomplishes the goal of representing a loving family holding up admirably in the face of adversity. For some it may be difficult not to wonder what Daddy did to land himself in prison, nevertheless the girl’s family does  display a love that is unconditional. It may be a difficult job for some readers whose questions about Daddy go unanswered. The fact that all the prison inmates but one are black, as are all the visitors, while the prison guard is white raises another set of questions. Although this reflects a reality about disproportionate incarceration rates for African-American men, does it also perpetuate stereotypes? Overall, a sensitive approach to a difficult issue that will certainly provoke discussion. 

Having said that, I would use this book in the classroom to provoke conversations on many different levels. We would investigate stereotypes, the unbelievably disproportionate numbers of blacks in our prison systems, and how deal with friends and family who are in the midst of such difficult circumstances. For these reasons, Visiting Day meets the requirements of high quality literature set forth by Norton (2011).