In Mrs. Tully's Room: A Childcare Portrait

by Vivian Gussin Paley

In Mrs. Tully's Room makes a quiet but powerful case for the pedagogical skill and psychological insight that childcare providers―so often underpaid and undervalued―can bring to their work. It also emphasizes how warm, quasi-familial, even mentoring relationships can develop between childcare providers and their preschool families.

Genres: Education

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Vivian Gussin Paley was an American pre-school and kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher, and author.

She taught and did most of her research at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Despite her status in the field today, she has described the first thirteen years of her teaching career as being an "uninspired and uninspiring teacher."

Reviews

[Frankie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book, I didn't think it was going to be entertaining for me, but I decided to be patient and to keep reading it. I am so glad that I stayed patient and forced myself to keep reading because this book turned out to be a page-turner for me. The premise of this book is that the toddlers in Mrs. Tully's class will tell her a story, Mrs. Tully writes down the story the toddler tells her and then tells it to the whole class, and then the toddlers in the class will act the stories out. Not only is this book entertaining, it teaches a good lesson, which is telling children stories is an amazing way to have them behave and to have them be disciplined. It shows that compared to punishing children, story telling is the superior way to teach children how to behave and how to be disciplined.

I am not a parent nor do I work with toddlers or little children, but I am a 19 year old with a brother who's five years younger than me, and we both grew up with parents that were very big on using punishments to get us and keep us in line, so I can attest to the lesson tis book teaches is correct. I remember that my younger brother learned to behave a lot better from our mom talking to him as if he were a person instead of punishing him when he was a toddler, like Mrs. Tully did and was advocating for.

When I was a young child, I used to constantly be too rough with my little brother, and be vindictive and hostile towards him. My parents would always yell at me and punish me for such and they made sure I knew that was the exact reason as to why they were punishing me, but hearing stories online of other people experiencing similar things to what I put my brother through is what got me to stop being terrible towards my brother. While my terrible behavior towards my brother when I was a young child could have been a lot worse without my parents yelling and punishing me, and my parents were in the right for yelling and punishing me for this behavior because it was keeping him safe, my parents talking to me as if I were a person and telling stories to me to teach me how my behavior was wrong would have made me stop being so much worse to him earlier.


And for those reading this and are curious, yes I feel terrible for this, and my younger brother and I have made amends, and we have a good relationship with each other now. While it could be better, we still have a good older sibling(I'm non binary)-younger brother relationship.

[Karen P · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book I have read recently by Paley. I am intrigued by her stories about storytelling and acting out the stories with young children. And I enjoy her awe and wonder at the children and their stories.

[Kellista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have I read a book that has moved me like this one. As a teacher of young children and parent of two, this book brought me to tears several times. Mrs. Tully and Vivian Paley struggle to understand children and how they learn and socialize. The stories in this book are a perfect picture of what early learning should look like. Children are respected, upheld and admired. They are storytellers, artists and citizens.

The story follows Vivian as she observes a childcare center in Chicago where Mrs. Tully leads children ages 2-4 through sharing and acting out their own stories. Within these stories we see the children's souls, worries, hearts, hopes and dreams. It's the most beautiful collection of stories I have ever read.

The book is inspiring for teachers, childcare workers and parents alike.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting non-fiction book about the impact of allowing preschool children to tell their own stories. An interesting view of the preschool as a community, and a clear underscoring of the importance of early education on our society as a whole: how we raise our children indelibly impacts what kind of adult they become.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and eye openning to the power of our own stories even for the very young. A great read for anyone who works with young children.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars For anyone wanting to bring out the creative side of their kids.

[Rachel Steim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to work with children as a career. Not only did I fall in love with the kids in the story, I also found it to be a short and easy read.