A Chair for my Mother

A Chair for My Mother
Written and Illustrated by Vera B. Williams
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1982
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: family, love, support and tough times

Summary: Rosa is a young girl who lives with her mother and grandmother. A fire destroys everything they own. Rosa and her family decide to save all their pennies until they can buy a new chair for her mother. It is a beautiful, nice soft chair that her mother can come home to after she has been waitressing all day. Rosa wants to do this for her mother because she appreciates all she has done for her and how hardworking she is.

Reflection: This is a sweet book about a loving family and community support. The plot is simple, but it has a great lesson, if you work hard even when times are tough you can get what you want eventually. This is a Caldecott Medal Winner. The illustrations are beautiful and they support the text perfectly. 

Pre-Reading: I will ask students to talk about their favorite possessions and how much they enjoy having them. The main characters in the story we are going to read lose all their favorite possessions in a fire. In what ways could you help someone who experiences a tragedy? Could you donate some of your toys to children who lose theirs? Could you and your family collect money to donate to other families?

Post-Reading: I will ask students to draw pictures of the objects that they pick for Rosa to buy and write their sentences under their pictures.

About the author: 

Vera B. Williams lives in New York City. She went to Black Mountain College and in 1949 got her degree in Graphic Art. She started writing after her divorce at the age of 46. She enjoys writing children's books, but also writes and draws for adults. She writes short stories, leaflets and posters.