A chair for my mother
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Description
This classic and heartwarming picture book was written and illustrated by the celebrated Vera B. Williams and was named a Caldecott Honor Book by the American Library Association.
"A tender knockout. It's rare to find much vitality, spontaneity, and depth of feeling in such a simple, young book."—Kirkus Reviews
Vera Williams tells of a young girl who, along with her waitress mother, saves coins in a big jar in hopes that they can someday buy a new chair for their apartment, the kind of chair her mother deserves after being on her feet all day in the Blue Tile Diner. Into the jar also goes the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market.
There hasn't been a comfortable place to sit in the apartment since a fire in their previous apartment burned everything to "charcoal and ashes." Friends and neighbors brought furniture to their new apartment downstairs, but no one brought anything big or soft or comfortable. Finally the jar is full, the coins are rolled, and in the book's crowning moment, mother, daughter, and Grandma search four different furniture stores, and after carefully trying several chairs, like Goldilocks, they find the chair they've been dreaming of at last.
Vera Williams enhances this story about family, community, and the power of working together toward a common goal with her signature folk art-inspired paintings.
A Chair for My Mother has sold more than a million copies and is an ideal choice for reading and sharing at home and in the classroom. "A superbly conceived picture book expressing the joyful spirit of a loving family."—The Horn Book
Vera B. Williams's beloved picture book favorites include:
- "More More More," Said the Baby
- Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart
- A Chair for Always
- A Chair for My Mother
- Cherries and Cherry Pits
- Music, Music for Everyone
- Something Special for Me
- Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea
- Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
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Published Reviews
Booklist Review
Ages 4-6. A warm story about a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter saving to buy a comfortable chair. Featured on ``Reading Rainbow.''
Kirkus Book Review
A tender knockout--from the author/illustrator of, most recently and auspiciously, Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe. ""My mother works as a waitress in the Blue Tile Diner,"" the little-girl narrator begins--and to the accompaniment of vividly colored, direct, proto-primitive pictures, the real-life-like story comes out. At home is a glass jar, into which goes all Mama's change from tips and the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market. ""When we can't get a single other coin into the jar, we are going to take out all the money and go and buy a chair. . . . A wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair."" This is because--we see it as she tells it--all the family's furniture burned up in a fire; and though neighbors and friends and relatives brought replacements (a buttercup-and-spring-green spread to contrast with the charred gray gloom just preceding), ""we still have no sofas and no big chairs."" Only straight, hard kitchen chairs. Then the jar is full; the coins are rolled in paper wrappers, and exchanged for bills; and ""Mama and Grandma and I"" go shopping for the chair. This last sequence is a glory: Grandma feeling like Goldilocks, trying out all the chairs; the very rose-covered chair ""we were all dreaming of,"" plump in the middle of the floor; the little girl and her mother, snuggled in it together. . . and she can reach right up ""and turn out the light if I fall asleep in her lap."" It's rare to find so much vitality, spontaneity, and depth of feeling in such a simple, young book. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
School Library Journal Reviews
EMPATHY; RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING; SELF-MANAGEMENT
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal.Reviews from GoodReads
Citations
Williams, V. B. (1982). A chair for my mother (First edition.). Greenwillow Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Williams, Vera B. 1982. A Chair for My Mother. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Williams, Vera B. A Chair for My Mother New York: Greenwillow Books, 1982.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Williams, V. B. (1982). A chair for my mother. First edn. New York: Greenwillow Books.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Williams, Vera B. A Chair for My Mother First edition., Greenwillow Books, 1982.