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    A Chair for My Mother
    A Chair for My Mother
    A Chair for My Mother
    Audiobook8 minutes

    A Chair for My Mother

    Written by Vera B. Williams

    Narrated by Martha Plimpton

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    This classic and award-winning picture book was written and illustrated by the celebrated Vera B. Williams and was named a Caldecott Honor Book by the American Library Association. ""A tender knockout . . . it's rare to find much vitality, spontaneity, and depth of feeling in such a simple, young book.""—Kirkus Reviews

    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 Chair for My Mother has sold more than a million copies and is an ideal choice for reading and sharing at home and in the classroom. ""A superbly conceived picture book expressing the joyful spirit of a loving family.""—The Horn Book

    Supports the Common Core State Standards

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 12, 2009
    ISBN9780061762413
    A Chair for My Mother
    Author

    Vera B. Williams

    Vera B. Williams began her career in children’s books by illustrating Hooray for Me!, written by Remy Charlip with Lilian Moore. Her beloved A Chair for My Mother won multiple awards, including a Caldecott Honor, and “More, More, More,” Said the Baby also received a Caldecott Honor. Vera B. Williams was the recipient of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award; she was awarded the 2009 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature; and she was the US nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2004. Vera B. Williams died on October 16, 2015, shortly before this book was completed.

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    Reviews for A Chair for My Mother

    4.5/5

    30 ratings27 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I love it. The cutest cutest story with the beautifulest pictures with real word problems. Amazing.
    • 3/5
      Sweet story and colorful illustratons.
    • 5/5
      The story of a young girl and her waitress mother saving money to buy a soft chair to relax on at the end of the day. A Caldacott honor book for it's beautiful watercolor illustrations.Classroom connections: This book could be used to introduce money and saving money. Also to talk about hard work and perseverance. The book can also be an introduction the the Caldacott award and the medium of water color for illustrations.
    • 5/5
      This book was amazing. It was so sweet I wanted to cry. The content and moral of this book is so great to teach in your classroom. The pictures were really good also. I know for a fact that I am going to purchase this book and have it in my classroom.
    • 4/5
      A little girl, her mother and grandma are saving to buy a new chair. All their belongings were destroyed in a fire so every piece of change goes into a savings jar. I liked this book because it showed how they all worked together and even took a family picture in the new chair. We also discovered that unlike other children's books, this book has flashback. It took us to the fire scene which was very helpful to capture the scene.
    • 5/5
      This story is about a little girl and her mom who are trying to save up money to buy a chair so her mother can come home from working at the diner and relax. However, a fire burns down their home and they lose their money. This story teaches children the value of money, hard work, and everlasting love.
    • 5/5
      This is a classic story by now. I tear up every time I read it when we get to the part about the whole neighborhood helping them move into their new house after the old one burns down. It's a wonderful example of community, and very realistic.I will note that this book is a bit wordy, and may not hold the attention of children under the age of 5 or so. If your kiddo has a short attention span, wait a year before reading this one.
    • 5/5
      When you read aloud a book that you love to your child, your love of the book will be contagious. This is a heartfelt story of a daughter, mother and grandmother's struggles, closeness and ability to save together for a chair for mama.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book very much, mainly for the plot in this book. It was organized in such a way that it started off with an introduction of how the family is trying to save up money to buy a big armchair, and then goes into a flashback of the family lost a lot of their belongings in a fire. The language was very clear and descriptive, for example how the author described the chair, “A big, red chair with a rose pattern.” The illustrations were also very detailed and helped go along with the words of the story.
    • 5/5
      This Caldecott Honor book is appropriate for the grades pre-k through first. The book is colorful and not too lengthy. The narrator who is a young girl starts off by saying that she sometimes goes to the diner where her mother works after school. There her mother's boss Josephine gives her small jobs to do and then compliments her and pays her. The narrator lives with her mother and her grandmother. Their house caught on fire a year ago so they now live in a small apartment. They don't have much furniture so they are saving up for a nice comfy sofa. At the end they fill up the coin jar and end up getting a nice sofa that her mother could rest on. Uses in classroom:- Talk about the different families that people can have.- I would have students write a story about their family and make a poster to share with the class.
    • 3/5
      A Chair for My Mother is an exceptional book for children to read when teaching them about hardships and how to work through them. The family in this book lost everything they own in a fire, and save up all the money they make in order to buy a new, comfy, big chair. This story can teach children the values of loss, hardwork, and most importantly family and people coming together when something terrible happens. The colors in the pages are bright and will keep children focused on the storyline and pictures.
    • 5/5
      Chair for My Mother tells the story of a family who lost everything they own in a house fire. It teaches how a diverse community shared their possessions with Rosa, her Mother, and Grandmother so they could start over again. The money jar teaches how the entire family worked hard and saved to buy the beautiful chair.
    • 4/5
      It's strange how sometimes the quietest, most unassuming books end up being the ones you fall in love with. This one's just a simple story about a girl, her mother, and her grandmother all saving up money in order to buy a comfy chair for them to relax on. All of their old possessions were burned in a fire. The family makes do with donations from their nice new neighbors, but when they finally save enough to buy something comfortable, pretty, and their own, it's a truly inspiring moment!The illustrations are lovely; each two-page spread has a pretty tonal watercolor background in differing hues. The art is done in a flat-perspective, almost folkart style. This is one of those picture books that is really a cohesive unit - both pictures and words combine to create an infinitely greater and more beautiful whole than they would otherwise provide. Just wonderful.
    • 4/5
      It’s a great story with so much to learn in it. It is based on how family pulls together through good times and bad. It is a good way to show children responsibility and learn about how people experience loss, and the importance of hard work through the story.
    • 5/5
      This is a sweet little book about a young girl who wants to buy a chair for her hard working mother. They lost everything they had in a fire and are putting their lives back together. It can teach students to respect and value their parents. And it teaches them to bounce back after a tragedy happens in their lives.
    • 5/5
      A great story about a family saving up to buy a chair.
    • 4/5
      6yrs.8yrs."This book is about a family that lost all of their furniture in a house fire. The family members decide to save coins to buy a new chair for their home. The mother is a waitress and tries to save all of the money she can to help out the family. The mother and daughter take all of the money they save it in a jar. When the jar is full they go out and buy a beautiful chair for the family to enjoy."(amazon)
    • 4/5
      The Second Graders that I read this book to really enjoyed it.The story has some good points.The family had lost everything in a fire, and yet the grandmom's attitude was that they are lucky they are young enough to start over. The family works hard and saves every coin in order to buy a chair. They don't just go out and charge it on a credit card--I found this to be a lovely example for people today.Everyone chips in to save coins. Even the daughter works. And when the fire occurs, all the neighborhood helps out by donating items to the family.Many lovely lessons in this book.
    • 5/5
      Cute story. I had my nephew listen and we talked about giving to others.
    • 4/5
      Brightly colored, bordered illustrations about a girl, her mother and grandmother saving coins for a comfy chair, which, in turns out, is needed because they lost everything in a fire. Neighbors helped them with basic furnishings. Teaches about kindness, friendship, community, saving money, thrift, delayed gratification (they don't buy the chair on credit), moving forward. A picture with the mother sleeping with a cat in her lap reminds me of Picasso's Le Reve.
    • 4/5
       I like this story, but I'm confused as to how it became such a "classic." I'm sure most first graders/kindergartners have read this book at one point or another. The illustrations are inferior, the storyline is blase, and there's no real "lesson" that I can find. It's a decent story, but there are far better stories out there worthy of such prestige.
    • 3/5
      A little girl who lives with her mother and grandmother discusses how they lost their old house to a fire. All the neighbors pitched in to furnish their new apartment. The little girl and her family started saving coins in a big glass jar to buy a new chair. the girl helped her mother at work after school to earn money. They saved enough and bought the perfect chair they had wanted. This is a neat way to show kids responsibility. I liked this book because it shows that we havve to work at accomplishing something- not everything is just given to us. I would have each of my students bring something into class to give to a shelter. We could pull all of their items together into a basket for the shelter.
    • 4/5
      The book tells the story of a little girl's family who lost everything in a fire. Since the fire, the young girl, her mother, and her grandmother have lived in an apartment with little to no furniture. The young girl's mother is a waitress who seemingly works her butt off. Together the three have been saving their change to purchase a chair in which they can all enjoy. After a year of saving, they finally save enough to buy their deserved, special chair. The book shares the story of a family who rebuilds their live after tragedy strikes them. It's encouraging for readers of all ages!
    • 5/5
      In A Chair for my Mother, the main character, a young girl, tells the story of a chair. Her family lost their home in a fire and, while the neighbors gave them many things with which to furnish their new apartment, they found that there was no comfortable place for the hardworking mother or beloved grandmother to rest after a long day. The family works diligently towards their goal of buying the perfect armchair.This is a great book. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. The message is also wonderful. It brings together ideas about community, family, love, hard work, and overcoming adversity. It's a great book for a read aloud or for early readers.
    • 4/5
      “A Chair For My Mother” tells the story in first person of a family that have lost their house in a fire. As the family starts over and save to buy new furniture and things they continue to be a loving family. The story is told from the little girls point of view.
    • 4/5
      A little girl, her mother, and her grandmother all work together to save their money. They put the money into a jar every night. The money is being saved to buy a new chair. After experiencing a horrible fire, in which everything was ruined, their neighbors and family members pull together and get them almost everything they need to replace items from their old home. Everything except a chair. Words to think about: bargain, velvet, spoiled, charcoal
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. There is so much for children to learn in it. They will learn about experiencing loss, the importance of community, hard work, saving, and investment. It is a little wordy so it would be a good book for 2nd and 3rd graders.