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Scary books and children who have experienced trauma
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From: Payne, Rachel <R.Payne_at_BrooklynPublicLibrary.org>
Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 10:28:51 -0500
I am finding this discussion really interesting. I love the idea of kids having control over the scary experience by a reading book. Books, after all, can be closed and hidden if they get too scary. As a child, I remember hiding a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Disney book. The evil queen was just too scary in her "witch" disguise.
I wonder about scary books and kids and teens who have experienced real horrors in their lives, particularly violence, war, and abuse. What is their experience with scary books? Are there things about them that are therapeutic or are they too much to handle? I know experiences may vary from kid to kid, but I wonder if anyone has experiences to share that could help shed some light here.
A few years ago, I was giving an Every Child Ready to Read (version 1) early literacy workshop to some educators who work with children whose families are in family court dealing with custody battles and domestic violence cases. The educational consultant for the program chewed me out in front of the whole group for using the book Jump, Frog, Jump! by Byron Barton and Robert Kalan to demonstrate dialogic reading. The consultant said she would NEVER read that book to a child in their program. The imagery of the of the frog being captured was much too scary. I never really got her concerns and I was a little too rattled by her to get into a discussion. The frog escapes capture and the kids I read it with love to root for the frog by shouting, "Jump, Frog, Jump!" I have a feeling this woman, with good intentions, was being overly protective of the kids with this one book. While I am not a social worker, I have found that it can be hard to know how a story is going to affect a child. Maybe an illustration of a character looks like their abuser. Maybe the child has been neglected and a classic like The Cat in the Hat, where the mother leaves the kids at home, would be too much. I am actually going to do a presentation for this group again (today in fact!), but I am sometimes hesitant to present books with "scary" content to them after this experience (I haven't seen this consultant at the program again). My take is the best we can do is be sensitive to kids in the moment and follow their lead. If they look nervous, uncomfortable, or scared (and not in a fun way) when we are reading with them, then it is time to pick a different book.
Anyone have any thoughts and suggestions on this issue? Thanks so much!
Best,
Rachel
Rachel Payne Coordinator, Early Childhood Services
Brooklyn Public Library 10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Tel: 718.230.2233 Cell: 347.684.1374 Fax: 718.230.2784
r.payne_at_brooklynpubliclibrary.org <mailto:r.payne_at_brooklynpubliclibrary.org>
bklynpubliclibrary.org <http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/>
Follow us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooklyn-Public-Library-Family/386616148103382> , Twitter and more. Start Here <http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/socialize> .
Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 10:28:51 -0500
I am finding this discussion really interesting. I love the idea of kids having control over the scary experience by a reading book. Books, after all, can be closed and hidden if they get too scary. As a child, I remember hiding a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Disney book. The evil queen was just too scary in her "witch" disguise.
I wonder about scary books and kids and teens who have experienced real horrors in their lives, particularly violence, war, and abuse. What is their experience with scary books? Are there things about them that are therapeutic or are they too much to handle? I know experiences may vary from kid to kid, but I wonder if anyone has experiences to share that could help shed some light here.
A few years ago, I was giving an Every Child Ready to Read (version 1) early literacy workshop to some educators who work with children whose families are in family court dealing with custody battles and domestic violence cases. The educational consultant for the program chewed me out in front of the whole group for using the book Jump, Frog, Jump! by Byron Barton and Robert Kalan to demonstrate dialogic reading. The consultant said she would NEVER read that book to a child in their program. The imagery of the of the frog being captured was much too scary. I never really got her concerns and I was a little too rattled by her to get into a discussion. The frog escapes capture and the kids I read it with love to root for the frog by shouting, "Jump, Frog, Jump!" I have a feeling this woman, with good intentions, was being overly protective of the kids with this one book. While I am not a social worker, I have found that it can be hard to know how a story is going to affect a child. Maybe an illustration of a character looks like their abuser. Maybe the child has been neglected and a classic like The Cat in the Hat, where the mother leaves the kids at home, would be too much. I am actually going to do a presentation for this group again (today in fact!), but I am sometimes hesitant to present books with "scary" content to them after this experience (I haven't seen this consultant at the program again). My take is the best we can do is be sensitive to kids in the moment and follow their lead. If they look nervous, uncomfortable, or scared (and not in a fun way) when we are reading with them, then it is time to pick a different book.
Anyone have any thoughts and suggestions on this issue? Thanks so much!
Best,
Rachel
Rachel Payne Coordinator, Early Childhood Services
Brooklyn Public Library 10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Tel: 718.230.2233 Cell: 347.684.1374 Fax: 718.230.2784
r.payne_at_brooklynpubliclibrary.org <mailto:r.payne_at_brooklynpubliclibrary.org>
bklynpubliclibrary.org <http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/>
Follow us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooklyn-Public-Library-Family/386616148103382> , Twitter and more. Start Here <http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/socialize> .
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Received on Thu 07 Nov 2013 09:32:43 AM CST
