The Table
by Winsome Bingham (Author) Jason Griffin (Illustrator)
Two families--both filled with love, both encountering hardship and joy, both living in the same place--and the one simple table that connects them all.
For years, a mining family's life revolves around their table. It's where they eat, read, sew, laugh, and pay the bills; it's stained with easter egg paint, warmed by fresh biscuits and the soft morning sun.
Outside the house, though, Appalachia changes. The coal mine closes, and the bills keep coming. Eventually, there's no choice but to move on-- and to say goodbye to the table.
But then: When a young girl's father sees the table by the road, he slams on the brakes. A lifelong carpenter, he can see it's something special. They bring it home and clean it up; sitting around it, they eat and work and laugh. The girl wonders if another child once sat there, if they were anything like her. She'll never know . . . but the table remembers.
The Table is a stirring contemplation on the similarity between even people whose lives are entirely different. The details of these different lives take many forms, but the love underlying both of these families makes them much more similar than they are different. The center of this book is family love, and the many important connections we share with the family we live with. Even in strife, this book shows, love provides a literal support.
Expressively illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Jason Griffin, the story is deeply personal to coauthors Wiley Blevins, raised in West Virginia, and Winsome Bingham, who immigrated as a child from Jamaica to the U.S. South.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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School Library Journal
Gr 1-3--It can be said that everything has a story to tell, but perhaps a beloved kitchen table collects the most stories of them all. From children who are not interested in eating what is placed in front of them to the many activities that take place in a family's life, a kitchen table is a place for gathering, working, playing, and remembering. And when circumstances change and a table no longer fits in one family's space, it just might find a new home where more memories can be made. This poetic picture book transports readers to life in the American countryside, where time moves slowly, home-cooked meals are frequent, and family is everpresent. No faces are ever shown, but hands are frequently used as the focal point of the illustrations. These hands are depicted in many hues and clearly showcase the work they have done throughout their lives. Perhaps most interesting is the way the text is presented, primarily in dialogue, but handwritten on rectangles of color that look like strips of paper. The choice vocabulary and onomatopoeia used within the story bring rural America to the readers' ears, and the inclusion of conversations about church, cornbread, and working class families enhance this design. Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully written, this is a story that will encourage family discussion and reflection. VERDICT This unique addition to the shelves celebrates the American experience through the lens of a beloved kitchen table.--Mary R. Lanni
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
Bingham (The Walk) and Blevins (the Scary Tales Retold series) collaborate on this layered work about two families who live their lives around the same kitchen table. One largely unseen child, then another, narrates, their perceptions written on thin strips shown on the table's surface. In delicate acrylic-on-paper illustrations by Caldecott Honoree Griffin, a hand or two sometimes appears, along with food and other objects. When the title opens, biscuits sit on the table, then a plate with a helping of seemingly untouched peas. That won't do, Mama warns: "There are too many starving kids in the world." Another page reveals the narrator's pale-skinned hands coloring Easter eggs. Then the child's father loses his job in the mines, and the family must move: "We all fit, except for the table." Placed outside, the object attracts attention from a second family driving by. Now another child, hands portrayed with brown skin, narrates as a second batch of biscuits graces the surface, and a second parent cares about wasting resources: "You eating that food," says Momma. When this narrator asks, "You think our table has a story?" readers already know it does--"a story only a table could tell." It's a brilliantly twined telling in which an object bears witness to the lives of two families "with parents that work hard and long hours and love each other.... Families like mine." Creator notes conclude. Ages 4-8. Authors' agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Oct.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Kirkus
A moving, elegantly constructed celebration of differences sure to foster empathy and stir the imagination.
E.B. Lewis is the award-winning illustrator of numerous books for children, including Coming on Home Soon (a Caldecott Honor Book), Talkin' About Bessie (a Coretta Scott King Award winner), and The Bat Boy and His Violin (a Coretta Scott King Honor book). In 2003, the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota purchased a collection of original watercolors from Lewis's first 50 children's books. Today, his works are displayed in museums, owned by private collectors, and sold by art galleries throughout the United States and Europe. He lives in New Jersey.
JUV024000 - Juvenile Fiction | Lifestyles | Country Life
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Family life
Coal miners
Appalachian Region
Poor
Poor families
Tables
Used furniture
