A chair for my Mother

Written and Illustrated by Vera B Williams

Caldecott Honor Book (1983)

I picked this book from the library solely because it was a Caldecott Honor Book - the gold stamp for kid lit.

The story is narrated in first person by a young girl who lives with her mother and grandma. They live a simple hardworking life (we might even say that they are poor, although the book never uses that word).

Due to a stroke of bad luck they lose all their meager belongings and have to start afresh. The neighbors pitch in and among other things give them some old furniture. But what's really missing in their home is a comfortable chair. Her mother complains that after a hard day at work she would like to curl up in a soft velvet chair but all they have are the hard kitchen ones.

So mother brings a big jar back home and they all work towards filling it up with their spare coins at the end of each day. When the jar is full, they will take the money and buy a chair. So that is where the title - A chair for my mother - comes from.

It is a simple no frills story - no rhymes or clever words, but it works because it is so simple. The illustrations ofcourse are beautiful, of Caldecott standard. Very detailed with nuances that I might miss, but obviously a child would catch. For example, the border on each page is relevant to the picture - notice the border on this picture of their kitchen..

And ofcourse the message.. Now a bit of personal background - I was brought up by my widowed mother and we had very little money growing up. But the thing I remember from my childhood is not the lack of money, but the sense of camaraderie we shared at home. A feeling that as long we worked hard and supported each other we could overcome all our problems.

No doubt this book struck a chord in me - and it paved the way for a dialogue between me and my daughter. I found myself talking about the hard times I had growing up and I could sense that young as she is, it was the first time she had ever thought about anything like this. About working hard and together to reach a common goal, about the unparalleled joy of deferred gratification. When you want something so badly and get it after much hard work, it does taste sweeter does it not?

A must read for our privileged children.