Love and the Rocking Chair
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
Two-time Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon celebrate the love we feel for our children in this touching, multi-generational story about the lasting power of family.Simple words and colorful paintings tell the warm, engaging story of new parents who buy a rocking chair when they are expecting a baby. Bright, sunny illustrations show the precious intimacy between parents and their children; the new mother glows with affection, and the new father reads aloud to their young son. Time passes, and the boy grows up; the beloved rocker is moved to the attic and gathers dust. But when the boy becomes a man, the cycle begins anew. He and his wife have a baby girl, and the rocking chair is needed again. Legendary artists Leo and Diane Dillon are two of the greatest illustrators of our time. This is their final collaboration, inspired by their own rocking chair. It is a tender tribute to the enduring power of family love-passed from generation to generation. Here is a book for all ages to cherish. It serves as a loving reminder of those who have gone before us-and those who are still to come.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spare, serene paintings cast a tranquil air in this story by the Caldecott Medal winning team (Ashanti to Zulu), completed by Diane after Leo's death in 2012. With a child on the way, a young couple hunts for furniture. They spot a white rocking chair, "perfect for the baby's room," and the new mother soon rocks her baby in it. As a toddler, their boy rocks "back and forth, pretending the chair was a wild horse." Years pass. When he leaves home, the chair goes to the attic; later, his father dies. The son's next visit brings a new family member "Mom, this is the woman I want to marry." Soon, there's a new child, and the rocking chair is brought back into service: "The grandmother sat in the rocking chair and sang softly to the baby." Following a multiracial family's cascade of care and affection from generation to generation, graceful scenes feature milky blues and mauves as well as soft, rounded shapes. In this family's story which closely follows the Dillons' own love occurs alongside loss and new life in reassuring snapshots of cozy domesticity. Ages 3 5.
