FRANK SERAFINI

Images of reading
and the reader
reading and readers are portrayed in Selections of children's literature, like other
cultural artifacts, are often used to portray particu-
children's literature may have ramifications lar aspects of reality and the human condition.
for elementary reading education. Students become socialized to see the depiction of

A s we go about our daily lives, various me-

dia present us with a vast array of visual
characters in children's fiction and its social con-
struct as the way things are, an inevitable or un-
changeable part of their social reality (Lewis,
,Aland textual images, many of which affect 1987). Allen (1997) contended that "the hidden
the way we come to understand the world and our- messages in the curriculum, including the repre-
selves (Fleckenstein, 2002). Here, in particular, I sentations of people's lives in children's literature,
focus on the images of the act of reading and what can shape children's perceptions of the world and
it means to be a reader in children's literature- their roles in society and socialize children to main-
specifically in contemporary children's picture tain the status quo" (p. 521). Like the representa-
books. Whether we acknowledge their possible ef- tion of people's lives, the images of reading and
fects on students, or whether we call students' at- readers that students encounter in children's litera-
tention tb them when reading and discussing books ture can shape their perceptions of what it means to
in class, these images may affect the way young be a successful reader in contemporary society.
readers perceive reading and what it means to be a
successful reader.
Images of what it means to be a reader are also Research on images
included in educational documents, literacy stan-
dards, commercial reading programs, and in selec- inchildren's literature
tions of children's literature. For example, the Studies have been conducted to investigate var-
American Library Association has undertaken an ious images in children's literature-for example,
extensive campaign to promote reading through a images of the classroom teacher (Barone,
series of posters depicting sports figures, televi- Meyerson & Mallette, 1995; Burnaford, 1994),
sion celebrities, and movie stars reading their fa- the negative images of schools and schooling
vorite books. These images of famous people (Greenway, 1993), the image of the principal in a
reading are displayed in school libraries and class- school setting (Radencich & Harrison, 1997), and
rooms to send the message to students that reading teacher-student relationships (Triplett & Ash,
is "cool" and that it is important to become a read- 2000). One study focused on the characters in
er. Public service announcements promoting the young adult novels and their relationship to literacy
value of reading and the importance of staying in and literacy development (Kuhlman & Lickteig,
school have been airing on many of the major tele- 1998). In addition, content analyses have focused
vision networks in the United States for several on various images in children's literature, including
years now. The intent of these images is to influ- portrayals of the American Revolution (Taxel,
ence students' perceptions about reading and the 1981), gender roles (Westland, 1993), and African
importance of becoming a reader. Americans (Sims, 1983). These studies were

* 60 © 2004 International Rea ding Association (pp. 610-617)

.
undertaken to understand these various images and way to the library, but did not address reading or
their possible effects on primary and adolescent readers, were not included in the final analysis. For
readers. example, Can You Guess Where We Are Going? by
Elvira Woodruff and Martha Alexander's How My
Library Grew by Dinah describe going to the li-
Investigating images of reading brary and a library being built, respectively, but
don't discuss reading or being a reader.
After reading Wolf! by Becky Bloom and be- The investigation centered on two questions:
fore sharing it with a group of intermediate elemen- (a) What images of reading and the reader are por-
tary students, I began to consider how the act of
trayed in the text and illustrations of contemporary
reading and the reading process were portrayed. I
picture books? (b) Is there a difference between the
became concerned that the way reading was pre-
images of readers and reading portrayed in chil-
sented in this picture book differed from my own
dren's picture books and those portrayed in trans-
understandings of the reading process and did not
actional, reader-response theories? Eventually, the
address reading as the construction of meaning
investigation led me to also wonder about the im-
(Cambourne, 1988). The story focused on the
plications these images would have for reading in-
wolf's ability to pronounce words and read aloud
struction and the expectations classroom teachers
fluently. This experience prompted me to investi-
hold for their students.
gate how other contemporary picture books por-
The final collection of 20 books, 18 of which
trayed reading and readers and if the various
were published since 1990, was then analyzed
portrayals differed from contemporary reading the-
across two domains: images of the reader (how
ories, including transactional or reader-response
readers were portrayed) and images of the act of
theories (Beach, 1993; Rosenblatt, 1978; Tompkins,
reading (how reading as a particular ability and
1980) and sociocultural theories (Lewis, 2000;
process was portrayed). Although these two do-
Luke, 1995; McKormick, 1994).
mains overlap in some respects, I present them here
In order to understand how readers and reading
separately to help examine the two types of images
were portrayed by authors and illustrators in con-
in greater detail.
temporary picture books, and how these images
might differ from those offered by reading educa-
tors and theorists, I conducted an investigation fo- Images of the reader
cusing on the images of readers and reading, both Images of what it means to be a reader ranged
textual and visual, in picture books published since from extremely reluctant readers, who fought with
1975. A search of my local public library and uni- their parents and teachers about having to read, to
versity data bases, using the keywords reading, children who loved to read and couldn't live with-
library, readers, and literacy, revealed approxi- out books in their possession. In three of the books
mately 40 children's picture books published dur- reviewed, readers were portrayed as stubborn chil-
ing the last 25 years that contained a library as a dren who defied their parents' requests to read and
setting, children learning to read, reading in school, presumably didn't know what was good for them.
or reading in general. At the time of this investiga- These recalcitrant children would rather watch tel-
tion, I was teaching a graduate course in children's evision or play outside than read the books they
literature and invited my students to recommend should be reading.
any additional titles that I might have overlooked. In The Girl Who Hated Books, by Manjusa
The final collection was approximately 50 books, Pawagi, the main character Meena hates to read
and each one included some aspect of reading or and hates books being in her house. Books are
had a library as the setting. piled everywhere by her parents and get in the way
After an initial reading of the 50 stories, 20 of everything she tries to do. When the animal char-
were chosen that focused primarily on reading or acters come to life and emerge from the fairy tale
becoming a reader (see list at the end of this arti- books piled in her room, Meena has to read all the
cle). Books that simply told a story about going to stories in order to put the characters back where
the library or the events that took place along the they belong. By the end of the stack, Meena has

Images of reading and the reader 11) 0

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 '~ 1.- I'~ ' -
-) 1

overcome her hatred of books and realizes she can he dreams of pirates, dinosaurs, and superheroes
revisit these animal characters by reading the sto- until they come to life in his bedroom. He spends
ries once again. The book closes with her parents the entire story imagining adventures while read-
discovering her reading a book, and they are sur- ing, rather than having adventures himself.
prised and delighted at Meena's change in attitude. In a couple of the books reviewed, as charac-
In Nicholas at the Library, by Hazel Hutchins, ters evolved into readers they also became more
Nicholas does not want to go to the library; instead, civilized. In Wolf!, for example, a wolf wanders
he wants to stay at home and have friends over to into town in search of food and a home. He then
play. His mother dresses him in his raincoat and learns how to read by attending school, visiting the
takes him to the library anyway. In the library, public library, and buying a book from a bookstore.
Nicholas builds a fort out of books rather than read As he evolves into a reader, the wolf stops jump-
them until he discovers a chimpanzee behind one ing over fences, wears glasses, puts on a vest and
shelf section. The librarian explains to Nicholas hat over his natural "furry attire," and addresses the
that the chimpanzee is lost from one of the stories other characters more politely. He eventually be-
and that together they can help him find his way comes a "master" reader and is invited to join the
home by reading through the books. Nicholas other animals on a picnic. In The Library Dragon,
doesn't enjoy reading; however, he does enjoy by Carmen Agra Deedy, Miss Lotta Scales, the
searching for a home for the chimpanzee. self-appointed guardian of the library, is literally
In Silas, the Bookstore Cat, by Karen Trella transformed into the lovable Miss Lotty as she
Mather, young Peter is literally dragged to the reads aloud to her students. The characters in these
bookstore and forced to choose a book to read be- two books changed dramatically, becoming less
cause his teacher has told his mother he needs to "savage" as they were influenced by the power of
read a new book every week. Peter says reading is reading and literatute. Reading had a civilizing ef-
boring, and he wants to go outside and play soccer fect on them both.
with his friends. Peter chooses the first book he In the stories that contained portrayals of strug-
sees, without even looking at the title, simply to ap- gling readers, children saw themselves as dumb or
pease his mother and shorten their time in the store. at risk of failure in school and society. In the ones
In all three of these books, reading was por- with a school setting, the children struggling with
trayed as a solution to a problem, not as something reading were given remedial help or special atten-
enjoyed by the readers themselves. The young tion and were the focus of concerned teachers.
readers never admit to enjoying reading but use it Older struggling readers were portrayed as trou-
to solve the problems presented in their stories. At bled youths in need of parental and teacher guid-
the other end of the spectrum, readers were por- ance and extra remedial assistance in school. In
trayed as "bookworms." Reading consumes their contrast, where readers were learning to read on
entire lives. These characters usually wear glasses their own, often outside the school setting, they
and choose to spend most of their time in the li- were celebrated as precocious, intelligent people,
brary or at home reading. Reading is the only, or learning a valuable life skill through the hard work
at least the primary; activity these characters en- and perseverance necessary for success in today's
gage in throughout these stories, as they often ig- society.
nore other aspects of their lives in order to read. In For example, in the autobiographical Thank
The Library, by Sarah Stewart, Elizabeth Brown, You, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco, the young
the main character, drags a trunk of books behind Trisha struggles with reading at school and is of-
her to school, reads while vacuuming her house, ten harassed by the other students for being too
prefers reading books to dating, and fills her house dumb to read. She tries hard to hide her reading and
to the ceiling with stacks of books. learning problems from other students, until she
Avid readers were also portrayed as people meets an extraordinary teacher, Mr. Falker, who
who go on adventures in their imaginations rather helps her learn to read. By studying "letters, letters,
than in the real world. In Edward and the Pirates, letters and words, words, words," Trisha became a
by David McPhail, Edward never leaves his house reader. In Today Was a Terrible Day, by Patricia
except to go to the library. When he returns home, Reilly Giff, Ronald Morgan is told he might not get

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*,. The Reading Teacher Vol. 57, No. 7 April 2004
to third grade if he can't do his reading work and obstacles life presented them. On the other hand,
start paying attention. When he mispronounces readers struggling with reading in school were often
three words during the oral round-robin reading in the object of ridicule by other students and in need
his leveled reading group, another student ques- of remedial help to learn to read. Both groups of
tions his membership in their group. struggling readers knew they had a problem to
Compared to struggling readers learning to overcome and were concerned about their iliteracy.
read at school, readers learning to read at home or
assuming the responsibility for their own reading Images of the act of reading
instruction were portrayed as courageous charac- In all of the books that discussed the reading
ters determined to defeat the odds that life had pre- process, reading was portrayed as oral fluency and
sented them. In Richard Wright and the Library expression, and the successful reader was one who
Card, by William Miller, the main character, nov- could read aloud with confidence and passion.
elist Richard Wright, is unable to get a library card Reading was referred to as the ability to pronounce
because of the bigotry and prejudice associated each word without making any mistakes (in Today
with being an African American. In this story,
Was a Terrible Day); putting all the sounds togeth-
Richard convinces a white co-worker to let him use
er and getting a word right (in Thank You, Mr.
his library card under the pretense of checking out
Falker); trying to figure out what sounds the marks
books for his friend. He reads everything he is al-
make (in More Than Anything Else by Marie
lowed to check out and overcomes the challenges
Bradby); knowing the words and their meanings (in
African Americans faced during that period of U.S.
Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair
history. Reading, in this book, was portrayed as a
by Patricia Polacco); or having your voice step
powerful life skill that could help one overcome
from one word to another, page after page (in Read
obstacles, as a door to knowledge, and as access to
social goods and power. for Me, Mama).
When characters in the books studied were un- In Today Was a Terrible Day, Ronald Morgan
able to read, they knew their illiteracy was going to was laughed at and ridiculed for misreading a sen-
affect them negatively and often hid it from other tence aloud during his reading group. In More Than
characters in the story. In Read for Me, Mama, by Anything Else, reading was portrayed as a bottom-
Vashanti Rahaman, young Joseph brings home two up process that begins with understanding the
books every week from the library, one for him to "song of the alphabet" and the ability to know the
read and one for his mother to read to him. His sounds each letter makes. In this story, Booker's
mother, a great storyteller, eventually admits she mother gives him a book that contains the alpha-
cannot read the books that Joseph brings home. She bet and tells him it is a "singy sort of thing." Even
breaks down and asks the preacher at her church before Booker is able to read the alphabet for him-
for help learning to read, enrolls in a vocational self, he knows there are secrets, magic, and won-
school, and soon after surprises Joseph by picking derful things "hidden" inside books and that you
up his library book and reading it to him. The story require the ability to read to discover them.
closes as they celebrate her victory over illiteracy. Reading was also portrayed as something that
In The Wednesday Surprise, by Eve Bunting, a takes a long time to learn and requires a great deal
young girl surprises her father by teaching her of practice. In Joseph Wants to Read, by Fabienne
grandmother to read. The grandmother knows she Teyssedre, Joseph is told by his teacher that learn-
has to learn to read and tells her grandchildren that ing to read takes time and practice and that he
it is easier if they learn to read while they are needs to continue working on his letters and sounds
young. Once she has learned to read, she exclaims at home over the summer. For Joseph, a beginning
that she is going to read everything in the world. reader, the ability to read begins with reading pic-
With the ability to read, the grandmother knew her tures, learning the alphabet and letter sounds, and
life would change dramatically. memorizing sight words. In When Will I Read? by
Characters who became readers outside of the Miriam Cohen, learning to read is something that
school setting were portrayed as hardworking, in- just happens. Learning to read begins with remem-
dependent, resourceful people who overcame the bering how words look and reading the signs posted

.
Images of readingand the reader 6)3
* *
 in the classroom. Reading is something the little Reading was also portrayed as a transformative
boy in the story says he was waiting his whole life event, a route to salvation, an event or process that
to be able to do. could heal and change people in dramatic, life-
Reading environmental print was also included altering ways. For Richard Wright, for Joseph's
in many of the stories that featured beginning mother in Read to Me, Mama, and for Anna's
readers as the main characters. In Carlos Likes grandmother in The Wednesday Surprise, the abil-
Reading, by Jessica Spanyol, everything in ity to read was seen as power, a form of cultural
Carlos's house and neighboring environment has a capital that was necessary to change their futures
label on it. In Look! I Can Read, by Susan Hood, a and their social standing. Learning to read became
little girl goes around her house and neighborhood an epiphany, an opportunity to remove oneself
reading words, signs, and labels. Dr. Seuss's I Can from the chains of illiteracy and to start life anew.
Read With My Eyes Shut discusses young readers' In More Than Anything Else, a young Booker T.
ability to read everything they encounter. Washington's powerful desire to learn to read dom-
Reading was portrayed as something you could inates his life. When he learns to read through the
do to escape reality, learn new things, or meet peo- help of another freed slave, he reaches for the sky
ple you couldn't meet in real life. As mentioned and proclaims salvation. The ability to read was
earlier, in Edwardand the PiratesEdward regular- presented in these stories as an important skill that
ly retreated into books and his imagination to meet everyone needs, desires, and is willing to work to-
exciting characters and go on new adventures. P.K. ward if they know what is good for their future.
Hallinan's Just Open a Book describes a series of
adventures you can go on and people you can meet
through reading. In Sophie and Sammy's Library What was missing
Sleepover, by Judith Casely, a group of children lis- The most significant insight that arose during
tens to the librarian read stories during a library my analysis was that the idea of making sense
sleepover and then acts them out. The stories help while reading-in particular, the construction of
the children imagine new worlds and transform meaning by readers transacting with texts-was
their playtime experiences. not conveyed in any of the picture books reviewed.
Reading was depicted as a gift or as a symbol The reading process was portrayed as a progression
of love, comfort, and affection in some of the pic- from reading letters to reading words and to correct
ture books reviewed. In Tomas and the Library pronunciation of longer texts and fluent oral read-
Lady, by Pat Mora, a young Hispanic migrant ing. This overemphasis on oral fluency and accu-
worker is befriended by a librarian and allowed to rate decoding gives young readers a distorted, if not
check out books on her card until he has to leave insufficient, view of the reading process. It is not
town. In several of the books, reading was some- simply the ability to "perform" a text orally, to be-
thing that took place before bedtime, in a comfort- come masters at reading aloud, but the ability to
able chair, between parents and their children. The understand what is being read that makes for suc-
act of reading was also presented as a requirement cessful readers in today's society.
for participating in society and as an important as- Readers sharing ideas about books with other
pect of becoming a prominent citizen. In Aunt Chip readers were not included in any of the stories re-
and the GreatTriple Creek Dam Affair, the towns- viewed. There were no literature study groups, no
people have stopped reading and focus all their at- class discussions, no writing in response logs, and
tention on television. When a television tower is no explorations of literature. Reading was not
built, Aunt Chip the librarian goes to bed (where shown as a process of bringing one's understand-
she stays for well over 50 years), proclaiming that ings and experiences to bear on the story being read.
"there will be consequences" for not reading. In Transactional, reader-response, and sociocultural
that book, reading was considered an important perspectives suggest that readers should be able to
part of life that the foolish townsfolk had neglected, talk about stories; relate stories being read to their
and television was identified as one of the major own experiences; interrogate texts from multiple
causes of their problems. perspectives; evaluate the versions of reality being

* 4 The Reading Teacher Vol. 57, No. 7 April 2004

represented through words and images in the pic- selves, it may become more difficult to help chil-
ture book; and understand that literature is a socio- dren see themselves as readers.
cultural artifact created in a particular time and We want students to include reading in their
place, for a particular purpose. It became obvious lives. It should not become a choice between en-
that the idea of the act of reading as a meaning- joying sports or playing with one's friends and be-
making process that we are trying to instill in our ing a reader. Children should be able to play soccer,
students is blatantly absent from the books go to parties, spend time watching television with
reviewed. their friends, and read. I don't expect reading to
Most of these books were published in the dominate my students' lives, just to become an im-
1990s; however, many of the stories took place in portant part of it.
the 1970s and 1980s. Although many changes have In all of the picture books reviewed, fictional
taken place in our understandings of the reading literature was the primary material being read.
process and theories of comprehension, these Environmental print was included in those books
changes were not reflected in the way that reading intended for emergent readers; however, no news-
and readers were presented in the books investi- papers, brochures, maps, encyclopedias, or other
gated. This being said, many of the structures and informational texts were included. This omission
approaches often associated with traditional of other reading materials, especially information-
al texts, reveals the dominance of fiction through-
reading instruction that have been shown to be
out the reading curriculum (Pappas, 1991).
ineffective-if not detrimental to children's devel-
Regardless of the challenges presented to char-
opment as lifelong readers-went unchallenged in
acters in these stories, reading was continually por-
the stories I examined. The use of round-robin
trayed in a positive light and as an important ability
reading and homogeneous leveled reading groups
to develop, while the inability to read was por-
were portrayed as essential components of elemen-
trayed as a problem to be overcome as soon as pos-
tary reading instruction. These comfortable re- sible or as a possible deterrent to full participation
minders of "the way things used to be" need to be in society and life. Society privileges specific
challenged, and images of more effective reading groups by emphasizing particular linguistic styles,
instructional practices need to replace them in fu- curricula, and authority patterns (Gee, 1996). In
ture publications. much the same way, the images in the children's lit-
In the books that used school as the setting, erature I reviewed privilege particular images of
reading experiences and instruction included round- the reader and the reading process. Throughout
robin reading, reading groups, and doing workbook these picture books, reading was portrayed as oral
pages. Students in school expressed their fear of performance and correct decoding of individual
making oral mistakes in front of other students or words, not as readers' ability to make meaning.
the teacher, and they were expected to practice hard Teachers need to disrupt this commonplace, mod-
and not give up if they wanted to be able to read. ernist image (Serafini, 2003) of reading as "oral
Students were taught to strive for independence, performance" often associated with elementary
where independence was portrayed as the ability to reading curricula. We need to question the images
sound out words correctly on one's own. of the reader and the act of reading presented in our
Another significant insight to emerge from this schools-particularly in the literature we share
review concerns the tension between being a read- with children-in order to reconstruct the concept
er and being a "normal" person. In many of the sto- of what it means to be a reader in today's society.
ries, it was implied that you couldn't play sports, Education is the construction and reconstruc-
watch television, or live what most would consid- tion of personal and social stories (Connelly &
er a normal life, andbe a reader. I don't believe that Clandinin, 1990). The identities that our students
we want students to conclude that only bookworms construct are influenced by the images presented to
who wear thick glasses are successful readers. All them and the ones included in the stories to which
sorts of people read. If the images of successful they are exposed. If we begin to use literature to
readers in these picture books are vastly different open up spaces to discuss what it means to be a
from the images children construct about them- reader and to portray readers in multiple roles, not

0
Images of reading and the reader -'
.... *
 simply as the closeted bookworms suggested in McKormick, K.(1994). The culture of reading and the teach-
some of the stories included here, we may be able ing of English. Manchester, UK: Manchester University
to expand students' concept of being a reader and Press.
help more students find room within these new def- Pappas, C.C. (1991). Fostering full access to literacy by in-
cluding information books. Language Arts, 68,449-462.
initions of reading.
Radencich, M., & Harrison, M.(1997). Images of principals ih
children's and young adult literature. The NewAdvocate,
Serafini teaches in the College of Education at 10, 335-348.
the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He may be Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978). The reader, the text, the poem: The
contacted at 9599 W.Charleston Blvd., #1074, transactional theory of literary work. Carbondale, IL:
Las Vegas, NV 89117, USA. E-mail Southern Illinois University Press.
Serafini, F.(2003). Informing our practice: Modernist, trans-
serafini©univ.nevada.edu. actional, and critical perspectives on children's literature
and reading instruction. Readihg Online, 6. Retrieved
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Polacco, P. (1998). Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York: Dutton Children's Books.
Philomel. Woodruff, E.(1998). Can you guess where we're going? New
Rahaman, V. (1997). Read for me, Mama. Honesdale, PA: York: Holiday House.

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TITLE: Images of reading and the reader

SOURCE: Read Teach 57 no7 Ap 2004
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