Module 1: Blue Willow

Book Summary:
Janey Larkin longs to live in a place where she and her
family can stay "as long as they want to" and not just until the
crops and work runs out. She also secretly hopes that the place they live will
match the pattern on her beloved blue willow china plate that was from her
great-grandmother. She hopes that in
their newest location this will be the case. She befriends the little girl and
her family that lives across the street and is excited to have the chance to go
to school again. However when the mean local foreman comes around to collect
rent, it seems indicative of trouble to come and Janey's stepmother falls ill
and the crops and work begins to run out. When the family runs out of money to
pay rent, Janey offers up her precious blue willow plate. Janey is heartbroken
and finds out they will have to leave anyway. When Janey goes to see the
landowner to say farewell to the plate, she finds out that her family was being
cheated by the foreman and she finally gets her wish, the ability to stay
somewhere as long as her family wants.
APA reference of book:
Gates, D. (1940). Blue
willow. New York, NY: Puffin Books.
Impressions:
Blue Willow is a
stunningly vivid work of historical fiction. As Janey went about her day, I
could visualize the people she was interacting with and the things that she was
seeing. When she describes the experience of going to the fair, the reader
feels like they are beside her, seeing and hearing the same things. For the
audience of older elementary age children, this type of storytelling is
perfect! They can really feel like they are involved. As an adult reading this
book, I really appreciated the excellent setting Gates created. I really felt
as though I could see the California Central Valley as it was many decades ago.
Descriptions of going to town, how special it was to eat out and the experience
of Janey buying a coat all did an excellent job of helping me visualize the
era.
The symbol of the blue willow plate is incredibly
well-developed. Not only is it something Janey uses as a physical touchstone,
its placement signifies the Larkins' stability. Throughout the novel, it is
noted that the plate will not be brought out and displayed until the Larkins
have a stable home to display it in. The images on the plate signify Janey's
hopes and dreams, the kind of home she hopes to have one day, near a willow
tree and a little bridge. Giving up the plate to pay their rent shows Janey's
fortitude and willingness to do what is necessary to survive, as her parents
have always done as well. In the end, the blue willow plate finds its way back
to Janey as she finally has a stable home to display it in, for as long as she
wants.
Professional Review:
The blue willow plate that had belonged to her grandmother
was about the only beautiful and stable thing in Janey Larkin's life -- to it
she clung as her father and stepmother moved from place to place following the
crops like the other pickers. She is overjoyed when at last they can live up to
the blue willow plate by settling down -- in a real house with a real school to
go to. Not original or outstanding, but a pleasant story, with its setting of
the San Joaquin valley very well handled, and the people made very real. By the
author of Sarah's Idea.
Blue willow (n.d.).
[Review of the book Blue willow, by
D. Gates]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved
from: http://www.kirkusreviews.com
Library Uses:
Make the book part of a display/reading list for children
about what it was like to grow up in a developing area (urban, farmland, forested, ocean-side, etc.)
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