A Chair For My Mother

A Chair For My Mother

Author and Illustrator: Vera B. Williams

Age Group: 3rd Grade

Published:1982

This story is about a young girl who lives with her mother and grandmother in what seems to be a big city. The mother is a waitress in a little diner where the young girl sometimes helps by washing salt and pepper shakers and peeling onions. The mama comes home every night from work and the young girl helps her mom count her tips and they place the coins in a big jar. They are saving for a new, comfy chair. One day the girl and her mother are walking home and they notice the fire trucks in front of their building and that their apartment has burned. Luckily grandma was safe. The three of them moved in with her aunt and eventually rented the apartment below her. The apartment was empty they didn’t have much furniture. They continued to save mom’s tips and after a year they went and bought their new chair…it was just right!

There are many lessons to be learned from this story. This Caldecott Honor book shows love and family loyalty. After a fire destroys their home and possessions, Rosa and her mother and grandmother continue to work hard to save their money to furnish their new apartment, they don’t give up. This book shows not only a racially diverse family but also a many-generational, economically diverse family who have to work hard and save for all they have. They are not angry or bitter, they keep staying positive and moving forward. There continue to be many cultures who live together and support one another and this story is no different.

I would not recommend this book not for struggling readers, but as a class read aloud. The lessons learned need to be shared and would create some good class discussions. It may help some of the children who live in economically diverse homes feel better and more comfortable about who they are and where they come from. I believe that it is important for all of us to work for what we receive and that we should never take anything for granted. Any of us could loose our belongings in a fire or weather disaster at any time.

When I first looked at this book I was not impressed with the pictures. They felt sloppy and lie they were created with pastels. After reading the book, the illustrations seemed appropriate for the story, very simple and not one-sided. I am thinking more and more that the pictures should not only represent what the story is about but also feelings that the author wants you to come away from the story with. You feel that this is a poor, diverse family who work for all they have.