A Chair for My Mother (1982)

A story of courage, kindness, and perseverance. Williams' words tell a story of what happens when families work hard, stick together, and set goals. Life is not perfect, it has its struggles; and this story can help people relate to life and encourage them to "keep their chin up." ( )

Borrowed from: https://archive.org/details/chairformymother00will ( )

This picture book is about a young girl and her family trying to find a comfortable chair for their new place, after their old furniture was destroyed in a fire. They have to save up money for it and the neighborhood community ends up coming together and provide them with a multitude of furniture pieces. At the end, they find the perfect chair for their apartment and they all enjoy it together. I think this book teaches about community, family, and lending a helping hand when possible. This would be good for young students to read in an English class. ( )

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Acclaimed author/illustrator Vera Williams tells of a young girl, who along with her waitress mother, saves coins in a big jar in hopes that they can someday buy a big, new, comfortable chair for their apartment, the kind of chair her mother deserves after being on her feet all day in the Blue Tile Diner. Into the jar also goes the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market.
There hasn't been a comfortable place to sit in the apartment since a fire in their previous apartment burned everything to "charcoal and ashes." Friends and neighbors brought furniture to their new apartment downstairs, but no one brought anything big or soft or comfortable. Finally the jar is full, the coins are rolled, and in the book's crowning moment mother, daughter, and Grandma search four different furniture stores, and after carefully trying several chairs, like Goldilocks, they find the chair they've been dreaming of at last. -- Scholastic, Inc.