“Madeline Finn and the Library Dog,” by Lisa Papp
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2016, 32 pages, K-2.
Mastering the art of reading is one of the great challenges for primary school students. Some students can break words into syllables through the use of phonics. These fortunate students usually become good readers and the early grades are enjoyable.
Other students cannot effectively use phonics. Their brains tend to develop through seeing the whole, not the parts of words. There is nothing defective in the way God made them, but the students not being able to use phonics have a much more difficult time learning to read. Having been told dozens of times to “sound it out,” these students will continue to fail in phonics, become depressed and dislike reading. They are not ignorant or hard-headed, they just need to be taught in a different manner. Lisa Papp writes about one such child in her sensitive, caring picture book, “Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.”
Madeline Finn is a normal, active little girl. However, when she gets to school, problems soon emerge. The teacher passes out the class readers and Madeline just doesn’t get it. The words blur on the pages and sometimes appear backwards to Madeline. Most of the children in the class are not having any difficulty sounding out words. They break the words into smaller parts and then put them back together again.
Simple as that, these children have few reading problems in class and find the experience pleasant. But the world is different for Madeline. No matter how hard she tries, reading is a miserable experience. She never receives a star for performance but rather gets a “keep trying” note. This totally humiliates Madeline.
The girl’s mother keeps trying to find ways to help her daughter. They go to the public library and Madeline promptly tells the librarian that she doesn’t like reading. But the librarian, having worked with children for a long time, asks Madeline if she would like to try reading in the next room. When the child walks into the room, she sees all kinds of dogs and puppies wagging their tails and lying next to children. Youngsters are reading books to all the animals. The librarian asks Madeline if she would like to read to a beautiful white dog.
So, she sits down and snuggles up to the dog and begins reading. When Madeline makes mistakes, the dog stays next to her. The white dog doesn’t make fun of her mistakes like Madeline’s classmates at school. Soon, Madeline likes reading to the dog. Maybe reading isn’t so bad after all. But Madeline is soon called upon to read at school. When she walks up to the front of the room, she tenses up. But then she recalls the affectionate white dog. With that, Madeline starts reading. What happens?
Does Madeline read successfully? How did the white dog help her? Did you every have trouble reading? What helps Madeline get over her fears of reading? To find out, go to the library and check out this touching story, “Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.”
Primary school students in Nebraska voted this picture book the most popular K-3 title in the state in 2019. Reading success is one of the most important parts of primary school. Those who can successfully use phonics are known in education as “bottom-up readers.” They usually like school. Those with less ability to utilize phonics, known as “top-down readers,” often find reading difficult and sometimes, painful. Everyone has some ability to use both forms of reading. In truth, bottom-up readers are not more intelligent, they are just luckier. Top-down readers can succeed, but they will have to memorize many sight words to become fluent readers. This makes reading more complicated for them. This book treats the entire subject with great tenderness. I loved it and think you will as well.
