A Chair For My Mother by: Vera B. Williams

Genre: Picture book

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Copyright Date: 1982

Reading Level: 4-8

Page Numbers: 32

Summary:

This book is about a little girl who lives in an apartment with her mother. Her mom works in a diner and the little girl sometimes goes after school to help clean the salt and pepper jars and clean the ketchup bottles. The change that her mom gets from waiting tables goes into a big jar that they are using to save up for a chair. When her mom gets home from work, sometimes she is happy, and sometimes she is tired. Some days she got lots of tips ans other days she got hardly any, which makes her mom worried. The little girl's grandma lives with them and so sometimes they count the money together. The reason why they are saving up to buy a chair is because all of their furniture burned up in a fire that burned their house down. They lived withher aunt and uncle for a while but then they moved into an apartment downstairs. They had yellow walls and the floor was shiny, but the rooms were very empty without furniture. Neighbors and family all gathered together with them and brought them furniture like a kitchen table and chairs, a bed, a set of kitchen dishes, curtains, and a rug. However, they didn't have a sofa and her mom had no where to rest when she got home from work. One day her mom brought home a huge jar and they decided to fill it and use it on a comfy chair! Finally the day came when the jar was full. They went to the bank and got a bunch of coin rolls and filled them up and counted their change! IT was more than enough to buy the chair they wanter. Her aunt and uncle picked them up with their pickup and took the new chair back to the little girl's apartment. The little girl, her mom and her granma all got a picture together with the chair. Now, everyone in the family had a place to sit.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ who would I recommend this book to?

I would recommend this book to someone who has gone through something similar to the little girl. Someone who has lost rhie possessions somehow might appreciate how this girl got through having everything taken from her by a fire.

What problems/conflicts would this book potentially cause?

I don't think this book could cause any problems.

My reaction:

I thought this was a cute book. The story was kinda random, about buying a new chair, but it was good. I guess it is not really about buying a chair but more about dealing with hard times, and sticking with the people you love, because they will be the ones to help you.