Baylor, B. and Parnall, P. (Ills.) (1994). The table where rich people sit. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0-684-19653-0

 

 Annotation – A young girl tries to reconcile her parent’s seemingly “poor” economic status with their understanding of what it means to be “rich.”

 

 Media – ink and water color

 

 Rating –  5 Text and 4 Illustration – 3 Popularity

 

Curricular Connection –                 

 

Southwest art influence 

Traditions and rituals 

Views of the world 

Importance of the nature 

Value placed on things 

What does it mean to be “rich” 

Students may be able to relate to Mountain Girl, even if they are in the city 

Words seem to be written by a young girl 

Students agree or disagree about whether Mountain Girl is “rich”… short paragraph from their point of view

 

Nancy

 

 

 

Baylor, B. (1994). The table where rich people sit. Pictures by Peter Parnall.  New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

 

Artwork:  Line drawings/limited colors

 

ISBN-13: 978-0-689-82008-3

Mountain Girl learns that there is wealth greater than money when her parents share with her and her brother the wisdom of the choices they have made to raise their family close to nature.

 

Subjects: Wealth; Family life; Nature; Perspective

 

Themes: Money isn’t everything.  Prioritize your happiness.

Category: Fiction

Age Level Recommendation: Upper Elementary (and up)

Rating: 5Q/4P

 

AAS 5-4-08

 

The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall, ill. New York: Atheneum Books, 1994.  0-064-19653-0

   

   Annotation: A girl discovers that her impoverished family is rich in things that matter in life.

Media: pen & ink, watercolor 

Rating: 5th-8th 4Q/4P

   Significant Aspects of Art: I had a strange attraction to this book that, at first, I could not understand. It      had to do with the art, but the pictures are stark: strong black lines with bright colors that have great      gaps of white, the same white as the page. There is a vagueness to the art which confused my attraction to      it. The theme of the story is about the moments that no amount of money can buy. In thinking about it, I      realized that the sweeping vagueness of the art reflects the ethereal complexities of happiness. Material      goods - things - are solid. They have mass and are ‘filled in’. So one way of painting feelings might be to      take away the filled in spaces and the ‘heaviness’ of things in more complete drawings. This seemed to be      illustrator Peter Parnall’s intent. He uses many of Molly Bang’s principles to convey the sense that “money      can’t buy love.” He uses smooth, flat, horizontal shapes to create stability and calm. He often brings his      viewer into the top half of the page which, according to Molly is a place of freedom, happiness and spiritual      elevation. He puts his viewer into the scenes of Nature by fixing our eyes on human figures (often just the      bodice) within the picture. The many winding, diagonal curves create a sense of motion that evokes an emotion      not gotten from still-life drawings of objects. My attraction to this book has been defined, and I am      grateful for it.

 

lvanburen/6-09