From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 18:11:00 -600

I had the opportunity to share "Officer Buckle and Gloria" with two groups of preschoolers at the Madison Public Library storytime I did this morning and I just wanted to let CCBC-netters know of their responses to it, since it was a question posed last week.

Both groups consisted of about 20 children from toddlers to age five who attended the story time with their parents, grandparents or daycare teachers. The book was introduced in the context of stories about dogs and frogs, after we spent about five minutes looking at some photographs of real dogs and frogs in nonfiction books and we talked about their similarities and differences, which inspired the children to talk about real dogs and frogs they had known. We then read two stories that could really happen ("In the Small, Small Pond" by Denise Fleming and "The Last Puppy" by Frank Asch) followed by two stories that couldn't happen, "Hop Jump" by Ellen Stoll Walsh and finally "Officer Buckle and Gloria."

The children in both groups seemed to like "Officer Buckle" very much. It held their attention (even though it was the fourth book and this is usually the time 2 and 3 year olds start to get squirmy) and they laughed at the illustrations that showed Gloria acting up behind Officer Buckle's back. The children in both groups also laughed at something I hadn't thought was supposed to be funny -- the safety tips themselves. They found "Do not stand on a swivel chair." especially funny, and since it was the first safety tip offered, I think they were primed to find them all funny, which they did. They were also very responsive to Claire's star-shaped letters to Officer Buckle (they laughed at her safety tips, too!), and in one group, there were even little audible delighted gasps of recognition when I turned the page that showed Claire's second note. They recognized the star shape and Claire's self-portrait right away, even before I read the text that identified what it was. (I hadn't realized that Claire was such a major character till I read this book to children!)

The only part of the book that I think went over most of their heads was the bit about Officer Buckle finding out about Gloria's antics when he saw himself on the ten o'clock news. I think that the picture (with the TV screen reflected in the mirror) was simply too hard for them to interpret, and there wasn't anything in the text that explained it to them. But this didn't seem to bother them at all -- they were really anxious for the next safety tip, after all, and when they heard the final one "Always stick with your buddy." they broke into spontaneous applause (both times).

All in all, I would say it was a major hit with both groups of children. The grown ups liked it a lot, too, and several of them made note of the title so they could rush out to get it. My sense was that this is one of those books that children and adults both like but for different reasons. I had correctly assumed that this book would have a lot of child appeal but hadn't guessed why: it never would have occurred to me that the safety tips themselves would inspire such mirth. So that illustrates my Storyhour Tip #17: "Never try to second-guess your audience!"

KT Horning, CCBC (and Madison Public Library) UW-Madison
Received on Fri 16 Feb 1996 06:11:00 PM CST