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20th out of 179 books
—
109 voters
A Chair for My Mother (The Rosa Books #1)
After their home is destroyed by a fire, Rosa, her mother and grandmother save their coins to buy a really comfortable chair for all to enjoy. "A superbly conceived picture book expressing the joyful spirit of a loving family."--Horn Book.
Paperback, (25th Anniversary Edition) (Reading Rainbow Book), 32 pages
Published
August 1st 1984
by Greenwillow Books
(first published October 1st 1982)
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Oct 29, 2007
Malbadeen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people that detest the phrase "begining, middle
Shelves:
childrens-young-adult
A book about a chair!
It's about a chair!
A house has burnt down and people have jobs and etc, etc, but the book is about a chair and the people that sit in it.
I LOVE this book!
I also love this book because it flies in the face of the ever present argument that we force the "beginning, middle, end" and "first, next, then, finally" format on students.
"HA! SEE, SEE what i mean"?!?! I want to say when i read this book. I want to say it to everyone everywhere. See, even in kids books. It's there, th...more
It's about a chair!
A house has burnt down and people have jobs and etc, etc, but the book is about a chair and the people that sit in it.
I LOVE this book!
I also love this book because it flies in the face of the ever present argument that we force the "beginning, middle, end" and "first, next, then, finally" format on students.
"HA! SEE, SEE what i mean"?!?! I want to say when i read this book. I want to say it to everyone everywhere. See, even in kids books. It's there, th...more
•This story is about a tragedy and how the family is coping with the aftermath. It is about saving for something special and the importance of friends and family.
•Many children don’t have everything they need. I like how this story gives an example of one little girl but focuses on the important things in her life.
•This can be used with children to start a discussion of the important things in their lives and how it is important to do things for others.
Read aloud for 1st through 3rd. Used to le...more
•Many children don’t have everything they need. I like how this story gives an example of one little girl but focuses on the important things in her life.
•This can be used with children to start a discussion of the important things in their lives and how it is important to do things for others.
Read aloud for 1st through 3rd. Used to le...more
I really enjoyed reading "A Chair for my Mother". I thought it was so sweet and sincere of the daughter to save up her coins by working little jobs at the cafe in order to buy her mother a new comfy chair. Since the apartments that the mother and daughter lived in burned down not too long ago, they lost all their belongings, and this is why the daughter really wanted to purchase a new chair for her mom. I found it clever and cute how the cover of the book has the red and pink roses around the bo...more
Characteristics of Quality and Cultural Relevance:
•Character: The young girl is about the same age and ethnicity of my students and her character is well developed. She demonstrates her care and concern for her mother and her understanding of the damage the fire had on her family.
•Diversity of Characterization: There are many cultures shown in the illustrations, particularly in the scene where the entire community is helping the family move in to their new apartment.
•Plot: The sequence of events...more
•Character: The young girl is about the same age and ethnicity of my students and her character is well developed. She demonstrates her care and concern for her mother and her understanding of the damage the fire had on her family.
•Diversity of Characterization: There are many cultures shown in the illustrations, particularly in the scene where the entire community is helping the family move in to their new apartment.
•Plot: The sequence of events...more
Lexile Measure: 640L
Grade level: k-2
Characters: Rosa, her mother, Grandmother
Setting: The apartment of Rosa and her family.
POV: Rosa’s
Award: Caldecott
Rosa and her family mom and grandmother have lost everything after their apartment burned down. A lot of the neighbors decide to help the family by bringing in furniture, food, and other things that they lost in the fire. Rosa’s mom is constantly working and always arrive home very tired. No one has brought anything comfortable for Rosas mom to...more
Grade level: k-2
Characters: Rosa, her mother, Grandmother
Setting: The apartment of Rosa and her family.
POV: Rosa’s
Award: Caldecott
Rosa and her family mom and grandmother have lost everything after their apartment burned down. A lot of the neighbors decide to help the family by bringing in furniture, food, and other things that they lost in the fire. Rosa’s mom is constantly working and always arrive home very tired. No one has brought anything comfortable for Rosas mom to...more
Fountas-Pinnel Guided Reading: M
Characters: Rosa, her mother, her grandmother
Setting: The setting takes place in Rosa’s apartment.
POV: The point of view is told from Rosa’s perspective.
Award: Caldecott Award
A Chair for My Mother is about a girl named Rosa who has been saving money in a money jar. The money jar is to save money for a chair to buy for her hardworking mother who never gets a break in life. Previously, their home and all of their personal items were destroyed due to a fire in a prev...more
Characters: Rosa, her mother, her grandmother
Setting: The setting takes place in Rosa’s apartment.
POV: The point of view is told from Rosa’s perspective.
Award: Caldecott Award
A Chair for My Mother is about a girl named Rosa who has been saving money in a money jar. The money jar is to save money for a chair to buy for her hardworking mother who never gets a break in life. Previously, their home and all of their personal items were destroyed due to a fire in a prev...more
Grade level: 3rd grade
Lexile Measure: 640L
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Characters: Rosa, her mother, Grandmother
Setting: The apartment of Rosa and her family.
POV: Told from Rosa’s point of view
This story is about a young girl name Rosa, her hard working mother who is a waitress and her grandmother. Their home has burned down and all their belongings have been destroyed. Life after that has been rough. Neighbors have brought them furniture, food, and stuff for their kitchen, but no one has brought th...more
Lexile Measure: 640L
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Characters: Rosa, her mother, Grandmother
Setting: The apartment of Rosa and her family.
POV: Told from Rosa’s point of view
This story is about a young girl name Rosa, her hard working mother who is a waitress and her grandmother. Their home has burned down and all their belongings have been destroyed. Life after that has been rough. Neighbors have brought them furniture, food, and stuff for their kitchen, but no one has brought th...more
I have read this book before! I actually read this book in Spanish and I loved it! I loved the pictures, the story and because of it, I remember that I started saving my money as well in a little jar. (: Pictures are nice, filled with vivid colors that capture the reader’s attention. The patters and the paint/watercolor detail to the pictures made it stand out. One thing I noticed, was the over simplification of the harsh times she’s living though. It sounds like she doesn’t know or understand l...more
To get the best chair in the whole world is the goal of a young girl in the story, A Chair for My Mother. During a fire the family lost everything. Luckily everyone one was safe, even the cat. Moving into an apartment the community came together and donated items to the family. But with all the generosity there still wasn’t a good place for the young girl’s mama to sit and relax after a hard day’s work. Saving change in a jar from tips made, the jar soon became full. After four furniture stores...more
The book "A Chair for My Mother" is excellent to read to children when there has been a disaster of a home or something very value to them. This ia a lovely book to read to preschoolers. I rate this a five. This little child was eager to save money to get a chair for their home. The young girl observe her mother when she arrived home her being so tired and fell asleep. All three of them saved coins in the jar. Then a diaster happen with their home; the community had helped them restore with furn...more
A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams is a sweet book fiction book about a girl and her family who saves money to buy a chair for the house. They had lots of chairs before but their house caught fire and burned everything inside, but the important stuff like the grandmother and the cat who escaped the fire. When they got ready to move into their new apartment, a bunch of their neighbors, friends and family supplied them with the things they needed for their apartment, like a bed, kitchen tab...more
This book touches on many subjects that are real life situations that can occur within a family. The girl in this story loses their home and savings in a fire. The subject is a little heavy for small children. The story has a positive message of sticking together as a family as well as the value of working hard to obtain what you need. This is a well written story that teaches a valuable lesson I just don't know how I feel about the issue of the fire. This story would not be understood for its t...more
I honestly love this book because for me as the book continued it just brought back many memories of my family. The book begins with a little girl talking about her mom working at a restaurant and her going to help. Once they are out of work everyday they would go home and put their tips in a jar. Inside the jar there were many coins that were being saved up for a big chair. The little girl goes on to describe why it is so important for them to get a big comfy chair. Some of the reasons are so t...more
I really liked this book because the story is realistic. This story is about a little girl who is saving up money along with her mom and grandma to buy a new armchair. They want a chair where they can all rest and watch t.v or take a nap. They want a new chair because all their old chairs got burned up. They had to start from zero when their house got burned because everything in the house turned into ashes. Their friends and family members all gave them something when they got their new home. T...more
Oct 20, 2009
Britt Kitko
added it
Summary:After a fire destroys their home and possessions, Rosa, her mother, and grandmother save and save until they can afford to buy one big, comfortable chair that all three of them can enjoy. After their home is destroyed by a fire, Rosa, her mother and grandmother save their coins to buy a really comfortable chair for all to enjoy. "A superbly conceived picture book expressing the joyful spirit of a loving family."––Horn Book.
Audience:
- Reading level- Late transitional
- Genre-Fiction
- Topic...more
Audience:
- Reading level- Late transitional
- Genre-Fiction
- Topic...more
I don’t know what I love more, Vera B. William’s heart-warming story or her Caldecott Honor Award Winning illustrations in A Chair for my Mother. William’s reveals the realistic hardships of a family who have lost all of their possessions to a fire. The story shows the support that friends and neighbors bring after the fire, but also shows the determination and hard work the family endures to bring comfort back into their home. They all work hard to save up coins in a jar to buy a new chair for...more
A Chair for My Mother
Reading Level: Easy Reader, Ages 4-8
Genre: Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Illustrator:
This is a sweet story intended for elementary age students. The story touches on themes such as family life, saving, hard work, and hardship to an extent. The story is told from the perspective of a little girl who lives with her mother. The mom appears to be a single mother with close extended family that lives close by, with the grandmother being one of the three main characters. The story be...more
Reading Level: Easy Reader, Ages 4-8
Genre: Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Illustrator:
This is a sweet story intended for elementary age students. The story touches on themes such as family life, saving, hard work, and hardship to an extent. The story is told from the perspective of a little girl who lives with her mother. The mom appears to be a single mother with close extended family that lives close by, with the grandmother being one of the three main characters. The story be...more
A Chair for My Mother is for kindergarten-third grade students and is a Caldecott Honor book (1983). This book is about a girl named Rosa, her mother, and grandmother who live together and live from paycheck to paycheck after their home and possessions were destroyed by a fire. They decide to save any extra money in a big jar until they can afford to buy one big comfortable chair that all three of them can enjoy.
This story is heartwarming and tender and has themes of love, family, strength, and...more
This story is heartwarming and tender and has themes of love, family, strength, and...more
Why this book?: Adds to the collection of books that represents life in the city and varying degrees of financial situations.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme/Keywords: Community, Fire, Family, Working together
Special Features: Bright watercolor illustrations
Characteristics of quality: The cover of the book is visually interesting; story contains a memorable character who is about the same who is the same age as the students; students will enjoy the story; story contains natural vivid language that...more
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme/Keywords: Community, Fire, Family, Working together
Special Features: Bright watercolor illustrations
Characteristics of quality: The cover of the book is visually interesting; story contains a memorable character who is about the same who is the same age as the students; students will enjoy the story; story contains natural vivid language that...more
Feb 21, 2012
L12_luisespinoza Espinoza
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
picture-books
This is a heartwarming story about a little girl, her mother, and grandmother that live together in an apartment. A fire destroys their apartment along with all their possessions and when they are able to move into a new apartment, their neighbors bring them furniture, food, and kitchenware. After all the donations are given, they decide to save coins from her mother's tips from working at the Blue Tile Diner to purchase "A wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair". The little girl also contribu...more
1 like · like · see review
Lexile: 640
Age level: Upper elementary
Genre: Picture book, contemporary realistic fiction
Award: Caldecott Award
-Main Characters: Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother
-Point of View: from Rosa
-Setting: New York, the diner, and apartment
A Chair for My Mother tells the story of a young girl who is raised by a single mother who works long hours at a diner called the Blue Tile. She often visits her mother, helping to wash the salts and peppers and fill up the ketchup bottles. She is compensated f...more
Age level: Upper elementary
Genre: Picture book, contemporary realistic fiction
Award: Caldecott Award
-Main Characters: Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother
-Point of View: from Rosa
-Setting: New York, the diner, and apartment
A Chair for My Mother tells the story of a young girl who is raised by a single mother who works long hours at a diner called the Blue Tile. She often visits her mother, helping to wash the salts and peppers and fill up the ketchup bottles. She is compensated f...more
Author Vera B. Williams does a wonderful job telling the tale of a young girl and her mother and their dedication to restoring their lives back to normal following a fire that burned all their possessions in their home. The idea of having your home and catch on fire and losing all your possessions is a fear that many of us have. It's a terrible circumstance that everyone can consider how they would handle and begin to rebuild their life after. This common fear and questioning make this book a pe...more
3 likes · like · see review
Summary:
This books is about a young African-American girl who lives with her mother and grandma. Recently their apartment burnt down and they lost a lot of their stuff. The mother works a lot to try to make enough money for them to live. The daughter sees how hard her mother is working. They are trying to save up enough money so that they can buy a comfy chair for her mother to rest in after work. The mother puts her tips from the waitress job in a jar and the grandmother puts her spare change i...more
This books is about a young African-American girl who lives with her mother and grandma. Recently their apartment burnt down and they lost a lot of their stuff. The mother works a lot to try to make enough money for them to live. The daughter sees how hard her mother is working. They are trying to save up enough money so that they can buy a comfy chair for her mother to rest in after work. The mother puts her tips from the waitress job in a jar and the grandmother puts her spare change i...more
Rosa’s mother waits tables at the Blue Tile Diner, and after work Rosa and her mother and grandmother count their tips and savings to place in a big jar. Specifically, they are saving for a comfortable armchair because their sofa and all their other furnishings burned in their previous home. A Caldecott Honor, vivid colors like indigo blue, chartreuse, sunny yellow, orange, pink and red in the illustrations radiate the warmth and unwavering hope of this resilient little family. Williams’ paintin...more
This book is about a daughter and her mother, her mother works at a diner as a waitress. The mom works really hard and makes most of her money from her tips. The mother and daughter lost everything in a fire and were left with nothing. They had to start over with their new apartment and needed to start saving money for some furniture for their apartment. They wanted a chair that is comfortable for the mom to rest in after her long days at work. These stories do happen in our world, families do l...more
This is another one of my favorites. For years I dreamed of saving a great big jar of coins. Only now am I actually doing it (with the Staffer of course). Anyway, there's a little girl, and there's a fire, and she lives with her mom and grandma, and her mom is so tired after work and has to sit in a kitchen chair to rest, so they save up all their coins and...
This book is enjoyable for so many reasons. A young girl is trying to help her mother save up coins in a jar to buy a comfortable chair for her family. This book is perfect for my school. Children from low income families can relate to the fact that things don't always come easy and some things we have to work hard for. The family also looks hispanic. This also suits my community. Often children have a hard time relating to books without someone from their own culture. How nice to see a positive...more
Summary: After a fire destroys their home and possessions, Rosa, her mother, and grandmother save and save until they can afford to buy one big, comfortable chair that all three of them can enjoy. After their home is destroyed by a fire, Rosa, her mother and grandmother save their coins to buy a really comfortable chair for all to enjoy.
Genre: realistic fiction
Reading level: This book is for a fluent reader because it has multiple lines of text on each page. The pages included complex sentences...more
Genre: realistic fiction
Reading level: This book is for a fluent reader because it has multiple lines of text on each page. The pages included complex sentences...more
We had mixed reviews. Some students thought this story was a bit short and boring. Some students don't like fire, and they did not enjoy the story. Other students, really enjoyed this book. One student made a connection, because she earns money, too. Some students liked that the characters worked hard to earn money and buy something they really wanted.
1.) Picture book-Traditional
2.) Summary- This book details how a girl and her mother save money (a few coins at a time) to buy a new living room chair after they lose everything in a fire.
3.)a.) Area of focus-This book coveys a lot of messages to the reader through the usage of heartwarming and endearing themes. Additionally, the narrator's voice plays a significant role in building a memorable and believable character.
b.) While this book is an older title (1982), it does a great job speaking to...more
2.) Summary- This book details how a girl and her mother save money (a few coins at a time) to buy a new living room chair after they lose everything in a fire.
3.)a.) Area of focus-This book coveys a lot of messages to the reader through the usage of heartwarming and endearing themes. Additionally, the narrator's voice plays a significant role in building a memorable and believable character.
b.) While this book is an older title (1982), it does a great job speaking to...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| MCC Children's Li...: A Chair for My Mother | 1 | 1 | Apr 04, 2012 06:48pm |
Graduate of Black Mountain College, North Carolina, where she majored in graphic art. In her own words, she has "done graphic art, school teaching, children-raising [she has two daughters and a son], has run a bakery and been a cook in schools and restaurants." (from back flap of book)
You can read much more about this author here or here
More about Vera B. Williams...
You can read much more about this author here or here
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Oct 23, 2012 08:54pm