LOVE AND THE ROCKING CHAIR

A multigenerational story about a beloved rocking chair that connects the members of one family.

In this true story, husband-and-wife author/illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon recount how they bought a bentwood rocker when they were expecting their son. In this chair, the father read stories to the boy. Alone in it, the boy rode the chair across the room as if it were his horse. When empty, the chair held his toys. As the boy grew older, the rocker got less use, prompting the family to store it in the attic. The boy grew into adulthood, his father died, and later the son introduced his mother to his future wife. When she is expecting a daughter, the rocker gets retrieved from the attic and is again put to use for a new generation to enjoy. More simply illustrated than many of the Dillons’ picture books, this story employs a palette primarily of blues, browns, greens, grays, and other earth tones. The illustrations emphasize the closeness of the family, regardless of what they are doing, and although the text makes no comment about the characters’ backgrounds, the fact that the boy’s father is black, his mother is white, and the woman he marries is Asian normalizes multiethnic families.

This quiet story exudes intergenerational love.