A Chair for My Mother-Vera B. Williams

Williams, V.B. (1982). A chair for my mother.  New York: Greenwillow Books.

"What was left of the house was turned to charcoal and ashes" (Williams, 1982).  OK, don't get teary-eyed just yet.  A Chair for My Mother is actually not a sad book...it's inspiring (main reason I chose to blog about this book...we all need a little inspiration in our lives)!  You see, Vera B. Williams does an amazing job telling the story of how a young girl, her mother, and grandmother overcome a devastating situation through hard work and determination.  A Chair for My Mother is a story about a family who loses everything in a house fire, but overcome adversity by saving enough money to purchase something very special to them. 

Vera B. Williams' words and illustrations work collaboratively to paint a mental picture of the events in the story, making this an excellent example of a picture book.  Characterization is used throughout the book to help the reader get to know the characters.  For example, Vera B. Williams describes the little girl's relationship with her family as a loving one, placing emphasis on how she wants to save money to buy something important to the entire family.  How special!  After reading the story, you will see just what a phenomenal child this little girl is (I don't want to spoil the story if you haven't read it yet)!  Theme is another element of fiction Williams uses to tell her story.  This family (blue collar), works extremely hard to overcome such a tragedy.  The way the family works together is inspiring to say the least!

If you haven't used this picture book in your classroom, I strongly encourage you to do so (you will understand after reading it)!  I've used it as an anchor text for a unit on writing personal narratives in my second grade classroom (independent reading level is middle of third grade).  Vera B. Williams does an excellent job with voice and detail in her book (see below).  

Check out the adjectives in this excerpt!

 A Chair for My Mother is also an excellent choice for teaching story elements, specifically focusing on how characters respond to challenges.

Example of excerpt that could be used with how characters respond to challenges (couldn't we all learn a little from this book)



We all have devastating situations (some more tragic than others) to contend with in our daily lives (even our young readers).  Helping our students connect the events from this story to specific experiences in their lives will help them learn how to overcome adversity.  Has there been a time in your life when you took a tragic situation and made it into something positive?  We can't change what happened to us, but we can control how we respond!