Analysis of the Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Analysis of The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

The Dot is a picture book authored and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. The age range is not specified, but for readers to be able to make meaning of the story, I presume that the book is designed for children of ages six and up. The plot revolves around a girl named Vashti who is encouraged by her teacher to take the first step in the pursuit of creative expression. Convinced that she cannot draw, Vashti left her paper blank during art class. Her teacher gently persuades her to make a mark on her paper, to which she complies angrily, and subsequently asks her to sign her name against her artwork. When she came to class the next week and sees her artwork hung on a wall in a gilded frame, she is inspired to do better. She ends up creating an exhibit of dots and even goes on to emulate her teacher by encouraging a boy who doubts his artistic ability.

The Dot touches on themes of creativity and self-confidence. It also highlights the value of encouraging others, nurturing them and celebrating their achievements. Readers will journey with Vashti as she develops from being an angry child with low confidence in her abilities to someone with the confidence and courage to explore ideas, as well as the maturity to encourage another to believe in themselves.

The book is profound in its simplicity – it has minimal narrative and makes use of watercolour art to elucidate Vashti’s predicament and character development. The illustration is mostly defined by neutral-toned washes, with splashes of colours to complement the plot. For example, in the scene where Vashti angrily jabs at her paper upon her teacher’s suggestion, the background is red to signify Vashti’s strong emotions. The author also uses dialogues to bring the characters to life and utilises all caps and exclamation marks to express mood. In addition, repetition of words is used to appeal to the target audience. According to Lynch-Brown & Short (2011), these features are appropriate and appealing for young readers.

The following excerpts demonstrate some of the aforementioned elements: “Vashti painted and painted. A red dot. A purple dot. A blue dot.”; “She discovered that she could make a GREEN dot.”; “If I can make little dots, I can make BIG dots, too!”

Critique

Reynold’s story provides insight into several theoretical models of child development. I construe that physical development is not within the book’s objective. Instead, I will be critiquing the appropriateness of the book for its target audience by using theories to explain how the book facilitates readers’ cognitive and socioemotional development.

Cognitive Development

Creative Thinking. Picture books can be regarded as an art object that blends texts and visuals (Huck, 2004). The theory of transactional nature of reading (Rosenblatt, 1978) posits that the reader is primarily responsible in the meaning of the text, irrespective of the intentions of the author (Cooper, 2007). Therefore, picture books are useful as they facilitate the child’s understanding of the content through providing a concrete representation of abstract ideas (Hansen & Zambo, 2005).

Additionally, studies have revealed that reading picture books helps to facilitate children’s art appreciation, thereby improving their creative thinking (Hsiao, 2010). For example, Hsiao (2010) found that reading picture books in school helps to improve children’s artistic and creative thinking ability, demonstrated by children’s increased usage of art vocabulary –such as describing illustrations using visual elements i.e. lines, colours –and reported significant improvements in children’s reading and drawing behaviours at home.

Socioemotional Development

Industry vs. Inferiority. Using Erikson’s model, this book would appeal to children in the fourth stage, Industry vs. Inferiority, which occurs between age six to puberty. School and social interaction will play a significant role during this period of a child’s life and will greatly influence the child’s self-esteem (Seng & Kong, 2018). Through the mastery of tasks, a child is able to develop a sense of competence and pride in their abilities. Initially, Vashti experiences feelings of doubt in her abilities to draw and does not even want to try. Constant comparison with peers and feelings of competitiveness could have also reinforced her feelings of incompetency (Nilsen, 2013). Vashti’s teacher plays an important role in helping her achieve industry. Instead of expressing her disapproval upon seeing Vashti’s blank paper, she encourages Vashti and offers her a suggestion to appease her. She also asks Vashti to sign her name next to her artwork. This signifies her approval of Vashti’s work and aims to encourage Vashti to take pride in her achievement. Seeing her signed artwork being displayed in class, along with her teacher’s encouragement, invokes feelings of competence in Vashti. This motivates her to do better and she perseveres through the exploration and experimentation of different colours and different-sized dots. The ultimate accolade for Vashti is seeing her artworks exhibited at the school art show. Towards the end of the book, Vashti successfully develops a sense of mastery and feels she has won her teacher’s and peer’s approval which allows her to achieve what Erikson calls industry.

Empathy. During middle to late childhood, children’s capacity for genuine empathy improves (Seng & Kong, 2018). Empathy is a social-cognitive process involving the understanding of another person’s perception and feelings, and the ability to express that understanding through a behavioural response (Richaud, 2013). Empathy is related to emotional intelligence (EQ) –the ability to identify and monitor one’s own and other’s emotions. It is said to include: emotional self-awareness; the ability to manage emotions; reading emotions; and handling relationships (Goleman, 1995, as cited in Seng & Kong, 2018). Vashti demonstrates empathy when she encounters a boy who compares himself with her and doubts his ability to draw. She draws from her own experience as a guide and goes on to encourage the boy. She also emulates her teacher in urging him to draw and getting him to sign his work.

Facilitating Readers Development

Children make meaning when reading