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Title: The Hickory Chair by Lisa Rowe Fraustino, Benny Andrews ISBN: 0-590-52248-5 Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2001 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: See with your heart
Comment: I'll come right out and say it. I had a very very mixed reaction to this book. Very indeed. Partially, this reaction can be blamed on my initial response to, "The Hickory Chair" when I picked it up. I thought to myself something along the lines of, "oog". Because, you see, I was instantly turned off by the illustrations. Now I recognized that this was a very unkind thing to feel about a book that, honestly, I hadn't even read. So I read it through intently. Then reread it. And I came to the inescapable conclusion that this was an exceedingly well-written story. And I also came to the inescapable conclusion that no matter how many times I read it I was not going to be convinced that the illustrations were a good compliment to the text.
The story of "The Hickory Chair" sounds a little bleak when summarized. In it, a blind boy named Louis is very close to his grandmother. They've spent good times together playing hide-and-seek, sitting in the attic listening to the wind sing on the roof, and reading by the grandmother's old hickory chair (carved, you see, by a single hickory tree that grew on that very spot so many years ago). When his grandmother dies, Louis and his family gather to hear her will. In a final game, they find that their deceased matron left little notes all around the house saying what each person would receive as their legacy. Louis is exceptionally good at finding everyone's note but his own. Finally he turns to the hickory chair and searches it, finding a slip of paper just as he knew he would. Unfortunately the note is only an old shopping list and the family has to face up to the fact that somehow Louis was forgotten. Later, Louis is given the chair anyway and he decides that the lost note isn't important. He knows that his grandmother loved him. It's only years later, when Louis is old and his granddaughter is asleep in that same chair that she discovers, inadvertently in the batting of the cushion, a note that reads, "For my favorite youngest grandchild with blind sight". His grandmother's final lost bequest.
It's a very touching story, you know. Author Lisa Row Faustino has penned it well. Perhaps most wonderful, and extraordinary, is that this book features a boy that is blind without making that plot point THE crux of the story. Instead, Louis's blindness is just one of those things. The real focus of this tale is the love shared between Louis and his grandmother, a love that lasted generations. The bittersweet ending and great evocative characters really make this a great tale. But then there are the illustrations to contend with.
I feel bad about not liking them. They're very artistic, you know. According to the bookflap, illustration Benny Andrews has presented his work at the MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, etc. He's obviously well regarded in the world of fine art. But for me, Andrews doesn't translate well to the picture book stage. There are inconsistencies and abnormalities about this book that bugged me. For one thing, granny's skin color changes every other page. The artist has wisely cast the characters in this book as black, and the story works perfectly as a result. With the possible exception of granny. The woman on the cover of this book is completely different from the woman handing Louis a flower on the dedication page. One minute granny's black with grey hair. The next she's white with black hair. Then it's back to black but with white hair. No other character shifts like this in the book, and you kind of have to wonder what the artist was thinking. People in his pictures in general are a bit expressionless, though this is more the author's technique than any real flaw. Far more condemning is the illustrator's inability to match his pictures, at times, to the narration. In a particularly confusing sequence, Louis's mother talks about how when baby Louis was rocked by his grandmother in the hickory chair, he somehow managed to forced his hand into the chair's batting so that when she stood the chair came with her. It's a little hard to understand just through reading, and well nigh impossible if you look at the picture. A similar situation takes place at the end with Louis's granddaughter doing the same thing with the batting with her own hand. The picture however shows her draped over the chair's arm, no hole in sight. You can argue that these are slight inconveniences in the narration, but I really do feel that they detract from the entire book. The illustrations do not serve to help the story in any way and I feel that had the artist been trying he could have done a lot better.
In the end, loving a book really just boils down to personal preference. There is not a sliver of doubt in my mind that there are huge Benny Andrews fans out there that will fight to the death to preserve his good name as a children's picture book artist. Be that as it may, I didn't think he added anything to Lisa Row Fraustino's otherwise very capable and well-written tale. For me, a better illustrator could have done a far more moving job than the one we see here. If you'd like to read a touching book about an intergenerational love that can touch you deeply to your core, I really do highly recommend this book. As for the pictures, think of them what you may.
Rating: 5
Summary: More than just pretty pictures
Comment: I have a three-year-old son who is blind and this is his favorite book. Many children's books rely heavily on the pictures to carry the story. Though this book has no shortage of beautiful pictures, the text can stand on it's own feet making it ideal for a blind child. My son happily tickles his belly as Gran talks about the old hickory tickling the belly of the sun and sniffs the air when Louis sniffs out Gran while playing hide-and-seek. This story is touching and warm in a way that you can feel with all of your scenes.
Rating: 4
Summary: Senses, love, and memories
Comment: Fraustino, Lisa Rowe (2001). The Hickory Chair. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 0-590-52248-5...
Louis can't see his Gran, because he is blind, but he can smell her, "lilacs, with a whiff of bleach," and he loves her "molasses voice." When she dies, she leaves behind a note for each of her family, hidden on a favorite thing she wants them to keep. Louis is the best at finding the notes, but no one can find the note she left for him. Since he has no note, he can take his pick, and is comforted by the hickory chair in which she often held him, which still holds her smell and her shape "rocked into the seat." Years later his grandchild finds the note his Gran left him, hidden in the hickory chair.
This is primarily a story about the ways memories, love, and the senses are tied together. Louis' memories and love are both expressed in sensory images. When he is happy, the air tasted "sweet and light." When he is sad, the air "curdled in my throat." We are given a vivid portrait of the manner in which a child without sight perceives the world. Benny Andrews' oil and fabric collage illustrations complement the text. The angular figures show us the emotions of Louis' African American family, sometimes joyous, sometimes somber, but always loving. The text is straightforward and vivid. A good choice for elementary school age children, this book will be even more effective with a discussion afterward.
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