Visiting Day

This excellent episode in the long-running series Reading Rainbow treats a tough subject--the fact that one out of every 40 children in the U.S. has a parent in prison--with sensitivity, honesty, and fairness. Hosted by the ever-engaging LeVar Burton, the program employs the familiar format that has been RR's longstanding recipe for success: following the introduction of the theme (sometimes a parent makes a bad choice, and kids have to live with the consequences too), the profiled book is presented in iconographic-animated style (the camera pans over the book's original illustrations as a celebrity voiceover reads the story), after which Burton expands on the book's ideas with real-life examples, and three other similar books are reviewed and recommended. Jacqueline Woodson's Visiting Day captures the joy and anticipation a little girl feels over seeing her imprisoned father on the one day she's allowed to visit, while also depicting the close relationship between her and her grandmother, who's had to take care of her in her dad's absence. The real-life segment chronicles the painful yet powerful story of the Gooden family, whose father is in Sing Sing. As we follow them on a visiting day, we observe the mixed emotions of love and anger, the struggle of single parenthood, and the stigma of having a parent in jail. Viewers see the humiliation of the check-in procedure at the prison, the younger boys' shock when they learn why their dad is in lockup, the exhaustion of the mother who works three jobs, and the sadness on the father's face as the heavy metal door swings shut after his departing family. While cautionary and serious, the profile also manages to remain positive and encouraging (without getting sentimental), focusing on the family's commitment to one another. Offering a unique opportunity for kids to think about a rarely discussed circumstance that perhaps they or a friend has to deal with on a daily basis, Visiting Day is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: E, I, P. (E. Gieschen)