The Bad Chair
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A fresh and funny picture book about feeling left out and the power of friendship, from the author and illustrator of A Year Without Mom.
Every evening before brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed, Vivi and Monkey play the game: Monkey hides under a sheet, and Vivi pretends to look for him. Every evening, Chair wishes more than anything that he could play, too.
One night, Chair decides to make Monkey late for the game so that Vivi will look for Chair instead. But nothing goes quite according to plan. Instead of looking for Chair, Vivi grows increasingly worried about Monkey. She gathers witnesses for questioning, and Chair could be the key to her investigation. But if Vivi finds Monkey, will she still want to be friends with Chair?
This sweet, funny story about friendship will encourage young readers to empathize with those feeling left out. Kids will delight in Dasha’s simple yet sophisticated illustrations.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tolstikova (Violet and the Woof) writes a closely observed account of someone longing to be noticed. Vivi is a tan-skinned girl who engages in nightly sessions of hide-and-seek with her stuffed yellow monkey. In Tolstikova's world, inanimate domestic objects can talk they're all portrayed in bright, loose art and the child's playful quizzing while sporting a deerstalker cap is part of her hide-and-seek ritual: "Have you seen Monkey?" she asks Cat, Chair, Kettle, and Plant. One night bright red Chair, longing to be the object Vivi hunts for, intentionally spills a drink all over Monkey, who has to be laundered: "Maybe tonight Vivi will look for ME!" Chair thinks, hopes high. Though Vivi is temporarily fooled, she becomes outraged when she uncovers the ruse. Readers will feel Chair's pain as Monkey and Vivi retreat together ("I have so much to tell you," Vivi croons exclusively). In the end, Vivi has a change of heart, but the story's real draw is the clash between Tolstikova's cheery, na f-style artwork and her mordant portrait of an uncertain soul. Ages 3 7.
