Visiting Day

by Jacqueline Woodson, James Ransome (Illustrator)

Overview

In this moving picture book from multi-award winning author Jacqueline Woodson, a young girl and her grandmother prepare for a very special day—the one day a month they get to visit the girl's father in prison. "Only on visiting day is there chicken frying in the kitchen at 6 a.m, and Grandma in her Sunday dress, humming soft and low." As the little girl and her grandmother get ready, her father, who adores her, is getting ready, too, and readers get to join the community of families who make the trip together, as well as the triumphant reunion between father and child, all told in Woodson's trademark lyrical style, and beautifully illusrtrated by James Ransome.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780147516084
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/11/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir BROWN GIRL DREAMING, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor Award, the NAACP Image Award and the Sibert Honor Award. Woodson was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Her recent adult book, Another Brooklyn, was a National Book Award finalist. Born on February 12th in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books  include THE OTHER SIDE, EACH KINDNESS, Caldecott Honor Book COMING ON HOME SOON; Newbery Honor winners FEATHERS, SHOW WAY, and AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER, and MIRACLE'S BOYS—which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award and was adapted into a miniseries directed by Spike Lee. Jacqueline is also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature, the winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and was the 2013 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

James Ransome (www.jamesransome.com) has illustrated more than fifty books for children, including This Is the Rope (by Jacqueline Woodson), and won the Coretta Scott King Award for The Creation (by James Weldon Johnson). His work has also earned him a Coretta Scott King Honor, IBBY Honour, ALA Notable, NAACP Image Award, Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and Rip Van Winkle Award. He lives in upstate New York with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome, and their family.

Read an Excerpt

Only on Visiting Day is there chicken frying in the kitchen at 6 a.m.
and Grandma humming soft and low,
smiling her secret just-for-Daddy-and-me smile,
and me lying me bed,
smiling my just-for-Grandma-and-Daddy smile.
And maybe Daddy is already up,
brushing his teeth,
combing his hair back, saying,
"Yeah, that pretty little girl of mine is coming today,"
with all the men around him looking on jealous-like
'cause they wish they had a little girl of their own coming.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This poignant picture book chronicles a joyfil girl narrator's hard-to-bear anticipation and special preparations for a journey with her grandmother to see her father.. . A shared feeling of hope and tenderness pervades each spread."—Publishers Weekly

"Woodson stays firmly planted in the perspective of a sentient young child who is comforted by the familiarity of her world."—Children's Literature

"The text is spare, gentle, and reassuring."—School Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

"This poignant picture book chronicles a joyfil girl narrator's hard-to-bear anticipation and special preparations for a journey with her grandmother to see her father.. . A shared feeling of hope and tenderness pervades each spread."—Publishers Weekly

"Woodson stays firmly planted in the perspective of a sentient young child who is comforted by the familiarity of her world."—Children's Literature

"The text is spare, gentle, and reassuring."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher