Tuesday, November 4, 2008
"Visiting Day"
I was thinking about the book we read in class, "Visiting Day" and how much I disliked the book. My concern about the book wasn't about its literary merit but more about the fact that I believe the author unintentionally portrayed a negative stereotype of the black community. I couldn't get over that even though it was great how the author was making a black child the main focus in a children's book (when black characters in general tend to be underrepresented), but how everyone in the prison appeared to be black males. My worry is that maybe some readers may look at this book and therefore assume that all black fathers are in prison. I think that maybe the author could have avoided this issue by introducing a white child who was also visiting his or her father and having the two children meet and realize how much they have in common.
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1 comment:
I think that book was a great book. It portrays what goes on in some children's life. The thought of the family being black did pass through my mind but i agree with Valerie when she says that it is a good book. Say however if that was the only book you had or showed to children to represent african american's then i think it would not be a good book. I think though since it is what children go through these days i think the book was good. As long as you have a wide variety of books that involve African Americans and show them in different lights i do not see any harm in having this book in your collection.
Karen J
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