- Email: [email protected]
Night light: A story for children afraid of the dark
77u Arts in Psychotherapy. Vol. 19. pp. 1X-136, Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
1992 Copyright 6
01974556/92 s5.00 + .oo 1992 Pergamoo Press Ltd.
BOOK REVIEW
Tell Me a Story, Paint Me the Sun: When a Girl Feels tgnored by Her Father Roberta Chaplan, PhD. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth (New York: Magination Press, 1991, 48 pages, $7.95)
Night Light: A Story for Children Afraid of the Dark Jack Dutro, PhD. Illustrated by Kenneth Boyle (New York: Magination Press. 1991. 32 pages, $6.95 paper. $16.95
hard)
Julia, Mungo, and the Earthquake: A Story for Young Children About Epilepsy Saxby Pridmore, PhD and Mary McGrath. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth (New York: Magination Press. 1991, 48 pages, $7.95)
There is, perhaps, no better way for children to learn about themselves and the world around them than through stories. No matter what the tale, children can always relate to certain characters or understand certain circumstances and events when they listen to or read a story. Stories are told to us from a very young age and bond us to the people who tell them to us. Stories are often told with a purpose in mind. One may argue about the importance to children of certain ancient fables and fairy tales. Some may feel they are too frightening, whereas others may uphold the importance of the archetypal images within. No matter what one feels, however, stories are an integral part of everyone’s childhood and imagination development. Magination Press should be applauded for their contribution to children’s literature through their series of books written by professionals to help parents help their children. These books use a story format with lovely and simple illustrations to inform, explain, and assist children with certain problems that may arise in life, from toilet training to the death of a
loved one. The books are not only presentable to children, they diminish an old tradition that held that children would outgrow or get over things, or that they were simply not aware of the events taking place around them. In this reviewer’s professional experience, the use of books that help children to understand has proven invaluable. For many years, I had the privilege of working with Judith Kestenberg. MD, world renowned child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Perhaps her single most offered advice to parents was that they should create a book for their children to better understand or overcome a difficulty. A personal book relating specifically to a child’s own situation is. of course, ideal. But that is not always possible if parents feel inadequate to write one. The next best thing is an already published book, such as many offered by Magination Press. These also can motivate a child to realize that he or she is not the only one experiencing the problem or event-which in itself is comforting. Ownership of such a book is an added benefit as it enables the child 135
BOOK REVIEW to review the content at a personal pace for purposes of reviewing. absorbing. and assimilating the material within. The following comments are offered regarding the individual books for review at this time. Tell Me u Story. Paint Me the Sun by Roberta Chaplan gives a sincere account of how a little girl feels while the family is going through a crisis. Told with much attention to the child’s perspective, this book moves the reader to realize how responsible a child can feel for her parents’ pain and how much more frightened children are when they see the adults around them suffer. Each day’s events are colored by the tragedy of the main character’s father losing his job as he becomes more and more depressed and less and fess available to her. Her teacher notices and offers her a chance to express her feelings verbally and through art. The teacher also offers some personal experiences from her own childhood, which helps the little girl. A major criticism here is in the involvement of the adults. The mother, who was a bit more psychologically able than the father. should have taken the time to explain what was going on to the child, even if a professional was needed to assist, rather than ignoring her own responsibility and leaving it all to the teacher. The strong inv~~lvcment of the teacher was a bit too much at a time when WC need to make our children wary of abuse. For example. it was inappr~~priatc for the child to go alone to the teacher’s home on a Saturday to paint. Unfortunately, we must be aware of such messages even though the teacher was obviously well intentioned. Otherwise, this book offers a sensitive handling of a child’s pain in the face of a family crisis. Night Light by Jack Dutro is an allegorical handling of children’s fear of the dark wherein imaginary creatures who wake at night are presented. The main little creature is afraid of the light but eventually overcomes his fears by directly approaching the world of light and delighting in the objects and images therein. Although the illustrations are deIightfu1 and the story is sweetly and succinctly presented, this reviewer feels that the matter has been handled better even in more popular children’s literature. The concept of presenting this from the perspective of creatures of
darkness is rather obtuse and a bit insulting to children’s ability to accept issues and fears quite directly. The strong point of the book is that it will surely inspire a child’s imagination in stimulating endearing rather than monstrous images, and this is the single most effective way to overcome fears of darkness and battle nightmares. Julia, Mungo, and the Earthquake by Saxby Pridmore and Mary McGrath is an informative presentation of the experiences of a young girl suffering from epilepsy. It is explicit about how the seizure forms and how the girl feels afterwards. It explains how her family dynamics were painfully affected by her disability. The treatment by her peers is a valuable part of the book. This varies from a friend who waits and worries to hurtful remarks made after others witness her having a seizure. The story juxtaposes her having the seizure to the occurrence of an earthquake. Julia, the main character, is left alone in the school’s health office when this occurs and through her own courage gets out of the school, helps the principal, and frees her class who are all trapped in the gym. Although this stretches the imagination a bit, it stands to reason that a child who experiences such physical trauma would be better prepared to deal with the unexpected in a logical and direct fashion. The one criticism this reviewer has is that it would have been an effective affirmation for Julia had one of her classmates referred to the fear and feeling of being out of control during a seizure as being akin to what they had just experienced in the earthquake. Otherwise, this is a book that well addresses its purpose. Tell Me a Story and Julia are recommended for children aged 7-l 1. This is appropriate and might even extend to as young as age 5. Night Light is recommended appropriately for children aged 3-7. All three books inctude factual and informative forewords that can be useful, specific to the issues they address, to professionals and parents. Beth Gonzalez-~lginko, Pratt Institute, Graduate
MPS, ATR Art Therapy Department Brooklyn, NY
1992 Copyright 6
01974556/92 s5.00 + .oo 1992 Pergamoo Press Ltd.
BOOK REVIEW
Tell Me a Story, Paint Me the Sun: When a Girl Feels tgnored by Her Father Roberta Chaplan, PhD. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth (New York: Magination Press, 1991, 48 pages, $7.95)
Night Light: A Story for Children Afraid of the Dark Jack Dutro, PhD. Illustrated by Kenneth Boyle (New York: Magination Press. 1991. 32 pages, $6.95 paper. $16.95
hard)
Julia, Mungo, and the Earthquake: A Story for Young Children About Epilepsy Saxby Pridmore, PhD and Mary McGrath. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth (New York: Magination Press. 1991, 48 pages, $7.95)
There is, perhaps, no better way for children to learn about themselves and the world around them than through stories. No matter what the tale, children can always relate to certain characters or understand certain circumstances and events when they listen to or read a story. Stories are told to us from a very young age and bond us to the people who tell them to us. Stories are often told with a purpose in mind. One may argue about the importance to children of certain ancient fables and fairy tales. Some may feel they are too frightening, whereas others may uphold the importance of the archetypal images within. No matter what one feels, however, stories are an integral part of everyone’s childhood and imagination development. Magination Press should be applauded for their contribution to children’s literature through their series of books written by professionals to help parents help their children. These books use a story format with lovely and simple illustrations to inform, explain, and assist children with certain problems that may arise in life, from toilet training to the death of a
loved one. The books are not only presentable to children, they diminish an old tradition that held that children would outgrow or get over things, or that they were simply not aware of the events taking place around them. In this reviewer’s professional experience, the use of books that help children to understand has proven invaluable. For many years, I had the privilege of working with Judith Kestenberg. MD, world renowned child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Perhaps her single most offered advice to parents was that they should create a book for their children to better understand or overcome a difficulty. A personal book relating specifically to a child’s own situation is. of course, ideal. But that is not always possible if parents feel inadequate to write one. The next best thing is an already published book, such as many offered by Magination Press. These also can motivate a child to realize that he or she is not the only one experiencing the problem or event-which in itself is comforting. Ownership of such a book is an added benefit as it enables the child 135
BOOK REVIEW to review the content at a personal pace for purposes of reviewing. absorbing. and assimilating the material within. The following comments are offered regarding the individual books for review at this time. Tell Me u Story. Paint Me the Sun by Roberta Chaplan gives a sincere account of how a little girl feels while the family is going through a crisis. Told with much attention to the child’s perspective, this book moves the reader to realize how responsible a child can feel for her parents’ pain and how much more frightened children are when they see the adults around them suffer. Each day’s events are colored by the tragedy of the main character’s father losing his job as he becomes more and more depressed and less and fess available to her. Her teacher notices and offers her a chance to express her feelings verbally and through art. The teacher also offers some personal experiences from her own childhood, which helps the little girl. A major criticism here is in the involvement of the adults. The mother, who was a bit more psychologically able than the father. should have taken the time to explain what was going on to the child, even if a professional was needed to assist, rather than ignoring her own responsibility and leaving it all to the teacher. The strong inv~~lvcment of the teacher was a bit too much at a time when WC need to make our children wary of abuse. For example. it was inappr~~priatc for the child to go alone to the teacher’s home on a Saturday to paint. Unfortunately, we must be aware of such messages even though the teacher was obviously well intentioned. Otherwise, this book offers a sensitive handling of a child’s pain in the face of a family crisis. Night Light by Jack Dutro is an allegorical handling of children’s fear of the dark wherein imaginary creatures who wake at night are presented. The main little creature is afraid of the light but eventually overcomes his fears by directly approaching the world of light and delighting in the objects and images therein. Although the illustrations are deIightfu1 and the story is sweetly and succinctly presented, this reviewer feels that the matter has been handled better even in more popular children’s literature. The concept of presenting this from the perspective of creatures of
darkness is rather obtuse and a bit insulting to children’s ability to accept issues and fears quite directly. The strong point of the book is that it will surely inspire a child’s imagination in stimulating endearing rather than monstrous images, and this is the single most effective way to overcome fears of darkness and battle nightmares. Julia, Mungo, and the Earthquake by Saxby Pridmore and Mary McGrath is an informative presentation of the experiences of a young girl suffering from epilepsy. It is explicit about how the seizure forms and how the girl feels afterwards. It explains how her family dynamics were painfully affected by her disability. The treatment by her peers is a valuable part of the book. This varies from a friend who waits and worries to hurtful remarks made after others witness her having a seizure. The story juxtaposes her having the seizure to the occurrence of an earthquake. Julia, the main character, is left alone in the school’s health office when this occurs and through her own courage gets out of the school, helps the principal, and frees her class who are all trapped in the gym. Although this stretches the imagination a bit, it stands to reason that a child who experiences such physical trauma would be better prepared to deal with the unexpected in a logical and direct fashion. The one criticism this reviewer has is that it would have been an effective affirmation for Julia had one of her classmates referred to the fear and feeling of being out of control during a seizure as being akin to what they had just experienced in the earthquake. Otherwise, this is a book that well addresses its purpose. Tell Me a Story and Julia are recommended for children aged 7-l 1. This is appropriate and might even extend to as young as age 5. Night Light is recommended appropriately for children aged 3-7. All three books inctude factual and informative forewords that can be useful, specific to the issues they address, to professionals and parents. Beth Gonzalez-~lginko, Pratt Institute, Graduate
MPS, ATR Art Therapy Department Brooklyn, NY