A Chair for My Mother and Other Stories

The bouncy rhythms of the introductory composition set the mood for Martha Plimpton's lively narration of a story about a cheerful young girl and her optimistic mother and grandmother. With her youthful voice, Plimpton's bubbly reading captures a family who eagerly saves coins for a new chair after a fire has destroyed their home and furnishings. This is a layered family listen. Adults will admire the girl's waitress mother, who dreams up a playful solution for their loss, and the daughter who worries about her mother's tired feet. Children are more likely to focus on Plimpton's happy tones as Williams describe the fun of counting money into a giant jar and going to four furniture stores to find the chair, the most perfect chair in the world, the one "we were all dreaming of." S.W. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

January 1, 2010
PreS-Gr 3-This collection includes stories by Vera B. Williams about Rosa and her family"A Chair for My Mother" (1982), "Something Special for Me" (1983), "Music, Music for Everyone" (1984), and "A Chair for Always" (2009)plus "Cherries and Cherry Pits" (1986, all Greenwillow). In the first title, a young African-American girl tells of the sorrow of losing her home and belongings to a fire and the jar in which the family places all of their loose change to save for a lovely, soft armchair. In the first four tales, the chair is a character, symbolizing warmth, love, security, and family to the young narrator. In "A Chair for Always", Rosa expresses her attachment to the now aging chair when her mother and grandmother begin thinking it might be time to find a new one. Martha Plimpton perfectly captures the tenderness and joy of these stories. This winning collection celebrates family and the power of hope."Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public Library, UT"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.