A review by snowelf
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

3.0

Maybe this is a necessary read, but it is not a very enjoyable one. I would actually save it until ready to tackle a plethora of social issues with your child. I would have thought the story was more dated, but no, it's only from 1982 (although you could say 30 years is a long, long time) and I suppose we should presume the issues presented in the story are still to date. It is a bit hard to picture though, in this age of everybody buying all their heart's desires in a whim - on credit(!) The story is very realistic and forces the child to think in terms of other people's needs and desires, so it's a good lesson in altruism. But in many ways it's a bit too realistic for my taste, and I would prefer to spare my son having to worry about lacking money for basics, his parents being too tired from work to interact or play with him, or having his house burn down, until he's a little bigger, say 7-8 years old. Actually, I would rather not he have concerns about money at all, until he's quite a bit older (and I say this as someone growing up as the oldest sibling in a single parent household)!

Sadly though, this is probably a story kids should be reading, should it be sooner rather than later, and whether it's because this is their reality or because they're so completely detached from it ...

I hesitated between rating the book 2 or 3 stars, as I didn't take any pleasure from it and I didn't really care all that much for the illustrations.