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Vera Williams: Working Class Families, Community
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From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 09:42:12 -0500
Something I particulary appreciate about Vera Williams's work is her depiction of working class families in books such as A Chair for My Mother; Music, Music for Everyone; Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart; Scooter; and others.
A Chair for My Mother is a lively and sensitive look at life in a working class family that is struggling economically. But how often is such a struggle portrayed with such authenticity in literature for young children? How often is it incorporated into a multi-dimensional picture? A picture that recognizes love, joy and laughter can and do coexist with sadness, sore feet and money worries? Rosa and her family are too uncommon in the world of literature for children.
The other thing that immediately comes to mind for me when I consider the work of Vera B. Williams is the idea of community. She reminds us of the impotance of connections, and celebrates connections, in every books she creates. I think of Elana Rose Rosen in Scooter, whose friends and neighbors help her expand her sense of self, and comprise a network of support and delight. I think of the two young cousins and their moms in Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe. And I think of little Evie, lucky enough to have all that she wants and needs from her family in Lucky Song. These books celebrate the everyday, positive connections to family, friends and the world at large that are a critical part of growing up. They are a reminder of how simple?and simply essential?connections to community can be.
What else do you find distinctive, or especially appreciate, about the work of Vera B. Williams?
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 12 Aug 2003 09:42:12 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 09:42:12 -0500
Something I particulary appreciate about Vera Williams's work is her depiction of working class families in books such as A Chair for My Mother; Music, Music for Everyone; Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart; Scooter; and others.
A Chair for My Mother is a lively and sensitive look at life in a working class family that is struggling economically. But how often is such a struggle portrayed with such authenticity in literature for young children? How often is it incorporated into a multi-dimensional picture? A picture that recognizes love, joy and laughter can and do coexist with sadness, sore feet and money worries? Rosa and her family are too uncommon in the world of literature for children.
The other thing that immediately comes to mind for me when I consider the work of Vera B. Williams is the idea of community. She reminds us of the impotance of connections, and celebrates connections, in every books she creates. I think of Elana Rose Rosen in Scooter, whose friends and neighbors help her expand her sense of self, and comprise a network of support and delight. I think of the two young cousins and their moms in Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe. And I think of little Evie, lucky enough to have all that she wants and needs from her family in Lucky Song. These books celebrate the everyday, positive connections to family, friends and the world at large that are a critical part of growing up. They are a reminder of how simple?and simply essential?connections to community can be.
What else do you find distinctive, or especially appreciate, about the work of Vera B. Williams?
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 12 Aug 2003 09:42:12 AM CDT
