Visiting Day

This is a story inspired by routines that several families will be familiar with, a trip to prison. Prison visits, especially for children, can be a shameful experience. Woodson changes that. Once a month, a little girl and her grandma begin their day early cooking some good southern food. The food

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is for the long bus trip they need to make to get to the prison where her daddy is. The bus is full of other people making the same trip, so they all pass around the food in a type of celebration that it’s finally visiting day. During the visit, everyone is happy and telling stories. Then it’s over. Grandma points out that one day, daddy will be home and they won’t ever have to leave him again. Jacqueline never gives our characters names. This is no accident. With our characters lacking names, we as readers don’t see this as Sally’s story; we see this as the story of several little girls. Jacqueline’s overall message emphasizes remaining hopeful for their family members return.

Details: This book was written to interest children in grades K-3 and is on a 3.6 reading level.

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A little girl and her grandmother wake up and prepare to go see Daddy in prison. The little girl and her grandmother keep hope knowing that one day Daddy will come home and everthing will be ok. I think some children can relate to this book and find comfort in it.

A young girl is excited for the day she gets to visit her father in prison. Beautiful pictures illustrate a story about family and hope.

A young girl describes her visit to see her dad. The story shows the preparation for visiting a parent in jail and the strength of the family dealing with this issue.

A young girl and her grandmother prepare for their trip to visit her father in prison. A heartwarming story about a family's love for one another despite hardships. This would be a wonderful story to share with students who have family members in prison.

A young girl describes her excitement as she and grandma prepare to visit her father in prison. Woodson skillfully captures the range of complicated emotions that go along with having a loved one incarcerated. This book depicts a reality for many of our students.

This heartwarming picture book illustrates the feelings of a family on Visiting Day, when the mother and daughter of a prisoner are allowed to journey to the penitentiary for a visit.

A young girl looks forward to the day she gets to go visit her father. It only happens once a month and it’s a very special day.

Family ties are strained by the incarceration of a loved one, but Visiting Day portrays the pride and love one family shows despite such hardship. Instead of being embarrassed or resentful, a young girl looks forward to the one day a month she and her grandmother will visit her father in prison.

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The dark subject matter of this book is balanced nicely with the message of hope it presents.

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This book tells a story that some kids actually go through. Children are able to relate to the characters as well as some parents and guardians.

Summary: This book is the story of an African-American girl that lives with her grandmother. Her father is in jail and they always look forward to visiting day her grandma and she get to visit him. They bring fried chicken, corn bread, and sweet potato pie for the bus ride, and they bring gifts for

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daddy. Grandma says things won't always be like this, and for now they'll just keep making biscuits, cakes, and pretty pictures to send him.

Personal Reflection: I really enjoyed this story because it could relate to a lot of children. Many children grow up this way and think that it's not okay and everything's bad. But this book tells the good side of things and lets children in these situations know that everything will be alright.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have the children write a letter to a family member that they don't get to see on a daily basis. Let them say how they feel and just whatever is on their mind.
2. Have the kids make a gift that they would give to one of their loved ones if they couldn't see them.

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A young girl looks forward to visiting her father in prison. This story will surprise the reader when he learns what “visiting day” means. For some, though, this surprise will be a comfort. There are few books that talk about imprisoned parents, and for readers who are familiar with this

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situation, finding a book where it is portrayed as almost normal will be a relief—the reader is not so unusual. It will also prove comforting as it is apparent that the father, though he is imprisoned and only sees his daughter once a month, still loves her—he brags about her to his cellmates and looks forward to her visits. Also comforting is the knowledge that visiting day will occur next month, as well—though it is sad, as it is in real life, knowing that there is such a long wait in between. Until then, though, the main character has her grandmother, a source of love in a trying time. Though the topic is touchy, Jacqueline Woodson handles it magnificently, not shying from the harsh reality and yet also providing a sense of solace to those for whom it is reality. Watercolor illustrations have a rich but realistic color scheme, like a painted snapshot of true life.

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Visiting Day is a picture book about a little girl who gets to visit her father once a month while he is in jail. The story details the events of visiting day through the little girl’s eyes. The book's general message is about a very unique family relationship. I really liked this book for two

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reasons. First, I loved the illustrations. I really enjoyed that sometimes the illustrations took up the whole page and stood alone without any accompanying words. The illustration of the little girl and her grandmother getting on the bus took up two whole pages and there were not any words to accompany it. I really liked that because I thought that the picture conveyed what was happening well enough that it did not need any words to explain what was happening. I thought it decreased the presence of dull sentences to move the story along. Second, I loved the plot of the story. I have never read or heard of another book about this topic. I really liked that we saw the plot unfolding through the eyes of the little girl. I think that most people are guilty of judging people who are incarcerated and maybe do not think about the fact that a lot of those people have families who love them. I think that the plot of this story gives a fresh take on this type of situation because even though the father is in jail, something obviously frowned up in our society, the little girl still looks up to him and is excited to see him.

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Parents day or Fathers day would be a great day to read this book. A father/child or mother/child relationship is extremely important during the elementary years. Whether the child has parents or only has a father 'figure', guardians are important. I will strive everyday to make children understand

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the importance of family.

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A young girl and her grandma prepare to go see her father in jail. They ride the bus once a month to go see him while eating fried chicken and pie on their way. Grandma reassures the girl that daddy won't be in jail forever. I was very surprised of the story once I read it.

Once a month a grandma, and grandchild prepares to visit the young child's father in jail. The little girl tells her daddy all what has happened during the past month. This book shows you the strength you must have to deal with this type of situation.

Once every month the little girl goes to visit her father in jail with her grandmother. They prepare all sorts of yummy foods to bring on the bus to share with all of the other families going to visit their loved ones in jail. This book shows a hardships that some children go through at a young age.

I thought this book touched on a very important topic that sometimes gets neglected in the realm of children's literature. The truth however, even if it is disheartening, is that many children have one or both parents incarcerated. This book follows a young girl, who lives with her grandmother,

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prepare to visit her father in prison. She is optimistic and happy about the whole thing and I thought that was an important element to show in the book- that she still loved her father.

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This is a to story about a little girl going with Grandma in a bus trip to go to visit daddy.
Her dad is in jail,so when she gets there, she can't hide all her exciment about seen him again.
Age group: 6-8 Years old
Source: Pierce County Library

This story melted my heart! I love how strong a family's bond is even when a parental figure isn't home. I see hope bursting at the seems of this book. Inspiring!

This is a wonderful book to read to kids because it deals with a harsh reality of family dynamics. State and Federal prisons are so over crowded that private prisons are being built at alarming rates to house inmates. Many of those prisoners have kids that grow up in a society that refuses to that

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when we throw away inmates we just destroyed someone's family.

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This book is about a little girl visiting her dad in prison. She talks about how once a month her and her grandma go see her dad on visiting day. She talks about how happy they are on that day and what her grandma cooks. Her grandma tells her that one day soon her dad will come home for good. The

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book even follows her to the prison where she tells her dad all about what is going on in her life and he is so happy to see her. The story ends with her and her grandma sitting on the porch swing wrapped up in a blanket letting the reader know that even though her dad is in prison she is cared for and loved. I liked this book. It gives a good look into the life of a little girl whose dad is in prison. This would be a great book for children to read that have a parent in prison to help them to know that everything will be ok. The illustrator uses water colors for the illustrations and takes the reader into a prison tastefully. The character of the little girl is strong and understanding in her situation. A classroom extension could be to have the students write about whom they live with and how they are shown love. Another could be to have the students draw a picture of somewhere they visit or have visited one of their loved ones.

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This is a good book to help children face the reality of different family situations. The little girl in the story is struggling to cope with her father being in prison. Though this book may have a strange and very specific message, I wouldn't be surprised of how many children it could help. Our

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own community has so many children that are dealing with a loved one in jail, and this book could help them get through it.

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I really liked this book for its honest story and it's beautiful illustrations. I like how Woodson addresses the story through a little girl's eyes who is simply excited to see her daddy. The book never notes why the girl's father is incarcerated, rather concentrating on the joy and excitement of

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the little girl, her grandmother, and her father for visiting day. I also liked how the book shows other families going to see their loved ones. In my opinion this depicted that this little girl and her grandmother are just one of many families who have a loved one "doing time". I believe this is an important message to a child who has a parent who is in jail; that they are not alone. The illustrations by Ransome brings the story to life and subtly shows the joy of the families and the sadness at time of departure. The big message of this book is of unconditional love, acceptance, and that we are not alone.

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