A Chair for My Mother 25th Anniversary Edition (Reading Rainbow Book) (Paperback)

by Vera B. Williams (Author, Illustrator) "My mother works as a waitress in the Blue Tile Dinner..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American
A young girl tells how she, her mother, and her grandmother save up all of their spare coins in a big glass jar toward the day when they will buy a much-needed easy chair. (Their old furniture and their possessions were destroyed in a fire.) If the plot is scant-after the jar fills up, mother, daughter, and grandmother buy the chair and bring it home-the atmosphere of anticipation and family warmth is strong. Williams' illustrations are energetic watercolor paintings brimming with color and a cozy, indulgent expressionism. Intense roses, blues, yellows, and greens vie for attention in the pictures' blocky compositions, where natty patterning adds extra spice. A striking, offbeat backdrop for a loving story. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From The New Yorker
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 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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; Rei Rep edition (August 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688040748
• ISBN-13: 978-0688040741
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,819 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Memorable Read, August 9, 2000

By	Caitlin (notgnihsaw) - See all my reviews

I am almost 20 years old and I won this book when I was in pre-kindergarten---I love it as much as I did then. The pictures are (obviously) marvelous and the story is very touching. It's one of those books that an adult can read and enjoy as much as the child. You find something new in it each time you look at the pictures. The story is especially current as it discusses hard financial times, single parenting, and families struggling to make it. All in all, its great!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chair for My Mother, November 17, 2001

By A Customer

This book is about a family that lost all of their furniture in a house fire. The family members decide to save coins to buy a new chair for their home. The mother is a waitress and tries to save all of the money she can to help out the family. The mother and daughter take all of the money they save it in a jar. When the jar is full they go out and buy a beautiful chair for the family to enjoy. This book is appropriate for ages 6 to 10. The illustrations are very meticulous with a painted appearance and show exactly what is going on in the text. Each page has an inventive and vibrant border on it that pertains to what is happening on that particular page. This is a Caldecott Honor Book that teaches a valuable lesson on how hard times can always be worked through and that working hard and giving 110% will always make a difference.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reaching one's goals., June 1, 1999

By	R. D. Allison ([e-mail]) (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Chair for My Mother (Hardcover)

This is a small children's book about a little girl and her waitress mother who are saving change in a jar to buy a new chair for their apartment. The book was a 1983 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children. It shows the joy of attaining one's goals after continued effort.