The Hickory Chair

The Hickory Chair is a beautifully written story about love and family. Louis is a blind boy who holds a special bond with his Gran. Although he cannot see her, he feels that he can because he knows her so well. When Gran passes, he believes she has forgotten him by not leaving something for him. He soon realizes that the memories they shared is what truly matters.
The descriptive language paints such a vivid picture for the reader. The words were drenched with warmth and affection. The hickory chair was the ultimate symbol of the love and bond Louis and his gran shared and stood as a treasure chest full of memories.
Their connection reminded me of the bond I shared with my grandmothers. Louis focused so lovingly on her smell. I can show more still smell my grandmother from certain trinkets I have of hers, which floods my mind with memories. This book does a wonderful job of showing that just because one can’t see, that doesn’t mean their experiences are lessened in any way. Although this book deals with blindness, it ultimately highlights the importance of family and the love that is shared. show less

This story is about Louis, who was born blind, and his Gran, grandmother. In the beginning they play hide and seek and Louis almost always can find her because of her smell, lilacs and a whiff of bleach. Louis describes his gran's smell, her salty kisses and the sound of the wind singing on the roof. His Gran passed away and Louis and his family reminisced on memories about gran. In gran's will she told all the family members to find her favorite things, and read the notes left behind for them. Louis never could find his note but his family let him keep the rocking chair that meant so much to him. When Louis was as old as gran he found a crumbled piece of paper, it was the note from gran. Through the whole story, Louis references his show more five senses and how he still knows what's going on around him even though he can't see. I didn't expect it, but this book is one of my favorite reads of the semester. It is not all about a blind child but the book is relatable and the lesson is worth reading about. Its not very often, in children's books, that the author talks about death or a persons will. This book does touch on that, but is a perfect choice for anyone dealing with losing a family member or coping with a disability. I recommend this book to grades 1-5 and during the appropriate time, such as talks about losing a loved one or learning about disabilities. show less

I really enjoyed this story. It was a little bitter sweet and incorporated many different aspects to deepen what made the main characters of the story who they were. The book tied many different themes into one: the loss of a family member, forgiveness, hope, physical disabilities, and love. The main character of this story is a little blind child who shares a really special connection with his grandmother. They often read together in an old hickory chair. When the grandmother passes away, the child is devastated that he cannot find the note that his grandmother leaves behind, even when he has found everyone else’s while being blind. However, he is able to overcome his disappointment and believe in his grandmother’s love for him, show more eventually finding the note when he himself becomes a grandfather. It is a really heartwarming story and is well written in that the story flows really well and the writing holds a certain sentiment that had to have affected the author in a very personal way: “The cushion sighed a good clean smell, lilacs, with a whiff of bleach. Gran’s shape was rocked into the seat…The lost note no longer mattered. In that chair, I was on Gran’s lap again.” I love how the author depicts how this child deals with loss in such a positive way. The book could serve as a really good example to young children who are going through loss in their own families. Finally, the pictures in the book were very well done. I loved how they did not show too much detail. The colors all blurred together and gave off a feeling of a fond memory. I think it really added a lot of depth to the story. show less

This book meant so much to me because of my relationship with my grandmother and this reminded me of all the love she has to give to each and every person. Also, I was very appreciative of how they incorporated the protagonists blindness into the story without making it the main focus of the story. Overall, the book was very well constructed.

"In this loving, warmly sentimental tale an old man fondly remembers his childhood days with his grandmother. Louis may be blind but that doesn’t stop him from sniffing out Gran, with her bleach-and-lilac scent, wherever she may be hiding, or playing “touch your nose” with her and a mirror, or listening to her “molasses voice” as she reads aloud, sitting in a favorite hickory chair. When Gran dies, Louis’s family gathers to reminisce, and learns from her will that she’s hidden notes in the possessions she wanted specific people to have. Endowed with what Gran always called “blind sight,” Louis proves best at finding those notes—but not one is addressed to him. Given the option to pick anything he’d like to keep, he show more chooses the chair. Restrained colors and upright, elongated figures give both feelings of dignity and intimacy to Andrews’s (Sky Sash So Blue, 1998) paint and fabric tableaux; facial features are shadowed or indistinct, but the body language clearly expresses the warmth and respect with which this family is bound. On a sweet closing note, the aging Louis finds his own youngest grandchild asleep in that hickory chair, her fist around an old, long-lost message that had been hidden in the padding for so many years. It says that the chair is meant to be his, of course, as he knew all along. A fine story with a theme seldom visited. (Picture book. 6-9)" show less

Louis and his grandmother play games together, and have a wonderful relationship. One day, as all grandparents will someday, she passes away. However, over the years, the grandmother has hidden away different notes assigning various belongings to his family. This wonderful tale tells the story of Louis finding his grandmother's note where he least expects it.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this book, however, is that Louis is blind. As mentioned in other reviews, not all disability fiction treats its main characters as people, and this book does that perfectly. Louis is treated as a normal kid, not someone to be pitied. Because of this, I find The Hickory Chair to be a wonderful example of what "disability fiction" is supposed to be.

Luis can't actually see his Gran but he'd recognize her anywhere between that lilacs with a whiff of bleach smell and that rich molasses voice. When Gran dies, she leaves hidden notes for every one of her family members, every one except for Luis it may seem. It isn't until years later, when Luis has grandkids of his own that Luis finds his note. "The Hickory Chair" is about that special relationship between a child and their grandparents and how that love can be limitless.