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In Times Past Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8. 
Enliven your US History curriculum! Teach US History using great kids books. |
The Table Where Rich People Sit
ReviewThis story starts with a complaint. The girl narrator is convinced that her family, particularly her mother and father, does not understand how poor they are. She calls a family meeting, held around a dilapidated but treasured table, to show them that they need money and that they should get better paying jobs. As she points out they are not sitting at a table where rich people would sit. Her mother and father are shocked that she doesn't realize how rich they are and, with her keeping track with paper and pencil, they list their many riches. Each of them: getting to work outdoors, getting to sing at the top of their lungs whenever they want to and the like, is assigned a monetary value -- usually in millions of dollars. Soon, she too is counting and valuing. She concludes that this is indeed a table where rich people sit for they are rich and they are sitting at it. This is a funny story with a serious message and the idea that money is an arbitrary and usually inadequate value system should be apparent to many readers. As is usual in Baylor's work, the setting is the desert and many of the things the family values are connected with that location. As in I'm in Charge of Celebrations, the reader is encouraged to think about the treasures and beauty the desert holds.  Related Areas of Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
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Copyright 1996-2008, Rebecca Otis.
This document is from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site at http://www.carolhurst.com.
Contact Information:
Rebecca Otis
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
52 Brookwood Dr.
Florence, MA 01062
email: rebecca@carolhurst.com
(413) 584-3153
