Hi there! Hope you had a great long weekend. My in-laws offered to take the kids to get breakfast and go to the park playground on Memorial Day. I thought, Awesome! I could use a little time alone to get stuff done. In true grandparent fashion, they returned my children cranky, utterly exhausted, and covered in Wendy's frosty. It's what grandparents do.
Today's story has a grandparent (how's that for a transition?) and a single mom and her young daughter as well. It's a story that I have held in my heart since I was a kid watching Reading Rainbow. I'm sure many of you had the same experience, and its status as a beloved book is well earned!
A Chair for My Mother is the story of a single mom who works as a waitress in a diner. Every night she comes home to the apartment she shares with her daughter and mother, and she rests her aching feet by sitting in the only chair they own - a hard backed kitchen chair.
The reason they have no comfortable furniture is that everything they owned was destroyed when their previous apartment building burned down. Now, the little family puts every extra penny they have into a big jar in hopes of using the money to buy the most perfect, most comfortable chair.
The day finally comes when the jar is full, and they finally get their well-deserved comfy arm chair.
Vera B. Williams has created a very prolific collection of picture books, and this is one of her best. I love her watercolor illustrations and the way she subtly works in issues of dealing with tragedy, strength in community helpers, and what it means to not have money to spend on needs. This book should be on every book shelf!
Story time conversations:
- When their apartment building burns down, all of their neighbors and friends come to their rescue, giving them furniture, clothes, and toys. Is there any way we can become community helpers like in the story?
- They try out every kind of chair their is! Which chair would you pick?
- It took them a long time to save up enough coins to buy their chair. Have you ever saved up for something you really wanted? What did that feel like?
Have a great day!
