The Welcome Chair, Written by Rosemary Wells and Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney




Description from the publisher:

"Based in part on a 100-year-old family journal, Rosemary Wells brings to life a story that the diary’s fragile pages tell. It’s the story of a wooden rocking chair handmade in about 1825 by her great-great-grandfather, an immigrant Jewish boy who made his way to America from Germany in the early 1800s.

In 1807, Sam Siegbert is born in southern Germany. Sam’s favorite pastime is carpentry, much to his father’s displeasure. His mother says he has a gift from God in his hands. After moving to America, he builds a wooden chair with the word WILLKOMMEN on the back. The chair’s back panel was later marked with welcomes by four generations of the family in four different languages.

After the family lost track of the old chair, the author created a new life for it among new owners from other corners of the world. All the families who loved the chair came to America, escaping religious conformity, natural disasters, tyrannies, war, and superstition. In its lifetime, the rocking chair, with its earliest word WILLKOMMEN, stood for openness, hospitality, and acceptance to all who owned it or rocked safely in its embrace."

Text Features: 

  • Fictional picture book in English
  • Includes author and illustrator notes to support exploration of the true stories that inspired the book and the creative choices behind the book's words and illustrations 
Critical Literacy Suggestions:

Read & Discuss: 

  • Who made the rocking chair and why? 
  • As you read through the book, construct a timeline of who takes possession of the chair, reflecting on: 
    • What brought that individual/family to the United States? (i.e., how did they think their life would be better in the United States)
    • What language did they inscribe on the chair and why?
    • What role does the chair play with each family? (who uses it and what for?)
Write & Act: 
  • Choose one of the immigration stories mentioned in the book. Write a journal entry, or series of journal entries, from the perspective of one of the characters. Think about what life might have been like for that child/mother/father/individual in that time period immigrating to the United States–what might they have felt and why? (remember: they likely experienced a mix of "pleasant" and "unpleasant" emotions, so try to show some of these)
  • Research your own family ancestry. Do you have immigrants in your family? Why did they immigrate?
  • Research immigration in your town/city/state/country. Learn about where people immigrate from and the reasons they immigrate. Share your learning.
  • Research ways to support immigrants (use the links below to help get you started) in your community and join with others to take action.  

Learn More:

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