The Table Where Rich People Sit

by Byrd Baylor, Peter Parnall (Illustrator)

As her family attempts to calculate the value of the desert hills, the colors of blooming cactus, and the calls of eagles and great horned owls, a young girl—who has been led astray by the family's lack of material wealth—realizes what really matters. Color illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Poetry, Family, Nature, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Byrd Baylor has always lived in the Southwest, mainly in Southern Arizona near the Mexican border. She is at home with the southwestern desert cliffs and mesas, rocks and open skies. She is comforted by desert storms. The Tohono O’odham people, previously known as the Papagos, are her neighbors and close friends. She has focused many of her writings on the region’s landscape, peoples, and values. Through her books of rhythmic prose poetry, written primarily for children, she celebrates the beauty of nature and her own feelings of rapport with it.
Byrd has written many books for children.

Her books have been honored with many prestigious children’s book awards, including the Caldecott Award and the Texas Bluebonnet Award. All of her books are full of the places and the peoples that she knows. She thinks of these books as her own kind of private love songs to the place she calls home.

Reviews

[Fatma Al Zahraa Yehia · Rating 3 out of 5]

المراجعة باللغة العربية في الجزء الثاني بعد المراجعة الإنجليزية:

Poverty is a miserable human experience beyond any child's ability to understand, bear or tolerate. It wasn't understandable to us when we were kids why our parents couldn't offer the same things that other parents can easily get for their children.

To kids, complicated money calculations seem easier and more sensible than they do to adults. you tell your child: the toy you need costs ten and I don't have more than five. and he simply suggests: go to the bank and ask them for more money. Just as simple as that!

A mother and a father try to deliver the true meaning of being rich to their daughter who sees that everything in their life (a roughly homemade table, ragged clothes, and a truck that looks like a piece of junk than a car) tells nothing but they are simply poor.

On the clumsily made table that the girl views as a sign of their economic struggle, the mother asks her to estimate the value of their actual belongings.

Gradually, while we are being taken on an inspiring journey through the dazzling desert where that family lives, the girl learns to appreciate what she has. Also, she will learn that the love of her family is priceless.

Dealing with real-life struggles and accepting them is not an easy lesson to be taught to our kids. A cozy meeting like what that family had can leave a significant effect, but for how long will that effect could last?

The Illustrations were imaginative and expressive though I am not used to that kind of experimental drawing in a children's book.






brunch hampstead


The overall reading experience for that book was exceptional and sweetly unique.

كم نعاني نحن الكبار لكي نُعلم أنفسنا الرضا. ننجح أحيانا في وقت الشدة، ونحاول أن نتذكر عطايا ونعم الله علينا بدلا من التشكي مما ينقصنا، وأحيانا أخرى نفشل ونغرق في دوامات الإحباط والإحساس بالفشل والعجز.
فما بالك بالصغار؟

طفلتنا في هذا الكتاب مثل كل الأطفال تترك عالمها الصغير "بيت العائلة" وتخرج إلى العالم الكبير "المدرسة" وتبدأ تدريجياً في إدراك أن هناك الأغنى والأقوى والأفضل والأذكى والأكثر أناقة والأفضل ملبسا من أسرتها التي كانت تتخيل أنهم النموذج الأمثل للكمال في العالم.

وتلك الصدمة ليست خاصة بالأطفال من الطبقة الفقيرة فقط، فاستيعاب أي طفل من أي طبقة أقل من أن يُدرك بأنه لا يوجد من يملك كل شىء. ودائما سنجد ما ينقصنا مهما امتلكنا من أموال.

تواجه الطفلة والديها كما كنا نحاول أن نواجه أباءنا ونحن صغار... أبي، لماذا لا نستطيع شراء سيارة مثل جارنا؟ أمي، لماذا أضطر إلى ارتداء ملابس أختي القديمة بدلا من شراء أخرى جديدة؟ أبي، متى سنشترك في نادي؟ سمعت أبناء عمي يقولون أن الاشتراك ليس غاليا كما تخاف، فلماذا لا تذهب وتشترك؟

أسئلة كثيرة أرهقنا هؤلاء المساكين بها، وأرهقهم البحث عن إجابات لن تستوعبها عقولنا الصغيرة مهما حاولوا. ربما لم يفعل أباؤنا مثل ما فعل الأبوين في تلك القصة، والذين عملوا ابنتهم أن الطبيعة المحيطة بها من شمس وسماء وجبال وطيور وحيوانات وصخورهى نعم من الله أكبر من أن نستطيع أن نضع لها ثمنا. فنحن لا نعيش في بيئة صحراء ولاية أريزونا الأميركية التي مثلتها وأبرزت ملامح بيئتها الخلابة الكاتبة في تلك القصة بإبداع وجمال شديد الرقة.

وبالتالي، لم يكن في إمكان أباؤنا الخروج معنا إلى شوارع الطبقة المتوسطة في الثمانينات الغارقة في مياه المجاري لكي نتأمل جمال التخطيط العمراني الباهر، ولن يتوقفوا بنا أمام قطيع من الكلاب الضالة لملاحظة اجسادهم التي أهلكتها أيدي مدمني تعذيب الحيوانات. والسماء محدودة بحدود شوارعنا الضيقة ولا نلمح منها إلا قطعة أصغر من أن نراها وسط كل هذا القبح.
فما كانت "حيلتهم" إذن لكي نقدر قيمة ما نمتلكه؟

ربما كانت حيلتهم هى سعيهم الكادح والمتفاني لكي يوفروا لنا أفضل ما يستطيعون توفيره. ربما كان سهر أمي الذي لا ينقطع حتى تتأكد من أننا قمنا بأداء واجباتنا المدرسية، وأنها أتمت دورات الغسيل الذي لا ينتهي، وأنها جهزت لنا الكاكاو باللبن الذي نحبه حتى نجد ما يشجعنا على الاستيقاظ صباحا. ربما كان سفر أبي المرهق الذي كان يتكرر ثلاث مرات خلال الأسبوع بجانب عمله اليومي إلى محافظات بعيدة حتى يحافظ على دخل جيد يؤمن لنا الحفاظ على كل خير تعودنا عليه. وربما كان رده على من يشفق عليه من مسئوليته الثقيلة أمامنا بأنها "مسئولية لذيذة" وأننا نعمة وخير وبركة من عند الله.

كانت نعمتنا التي قدرناها هى أب وأم أهلكوا عمرهم وصحتهم من أجلنا. ربما كنا كثيرا ما نتذمر ونشتكي ونتمنى أن نمتلك الكثير من المال مثل تلك الفتاة. ولكن الحب والتفاني كان الشىء الذي يذكرنا بأننا أغنياء، ولكن من نوع آخر.

[June Pecchia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When reading books, the number that I normally seek out first is the copyright date. For an adult with some understanding of history, this number is a always valid and unbiased reference point.

Many numbers assigned to books, however, are evaluative and biased. My hackles are up just now because I found that on scholastic.com, the publisher of Byrd Baylor's The Table Where Rich People Sit assigned “Interest Level” Grades 3 – 5.

How can any of Byrd Baylor’s provocative texts accompanied by Peter Parnall’s evocative illustrations be limited to grades 3-5?

Doesn’t everyone appreciate a message well-told in straightforward language?

It’s fine to use numbers for generalized shorthand evaluation, but please never rely on them solely.

One person’s number opinion is another’s outrage.

Today, in culmination of a speech class I taught, two middle school boys in a joint presentation delivered Baylor’s "The Table Where Rich People Sit" with great interest and understanding.

Read this book yourself and share it with people of any age who may may enjoy it.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book, as soon as I finished reading it I went and purchased it. It is such an incredible reminder to value all of the things in our lives that we so often take for granted, and to look past material possessions when determining our wealth. It is from the perspective of a girl who lives with her mother, her father, and her younger brother. They have a rickety old truck, a scratched up homemade table, holes in their shoes, and patches on their clothes. For a large portion of the book, the girl is focused on how poor they are and how in denial her parents are about their financial situation—they’re always saying how rich they are. One night, her parents sit her and her brother down to do some bookkeeping for their finances. They start listing the value of all the things that they have; the fact that they work outside under the open sky (worth $10,000), that they can see they sunrise and sunset every day ($5,000), seeing cacti bloom, hearing bird calls, exploring the wilderness (worth thousands each). They then take into account the worth of each of themselves (a million each) and end up with over 4 million, 60 thousand dollars. The daughter continues to add her own contributions on account of how much she loves the land, animals, and the freedom, helping her realize that money is not what is important, it is the people you love, the simple things that make you happy, and the beauty of the world around you. This teaches great values to children and helps them gain appreciation for what they have, rather than perpetuating society’s trap of obsessing over what we do not have. I feel that this book will be beneficial for all students, but especially ones that feel they do not have very much at home, or that are not well off. I would use this to spark either a discussion or an activity where they list the value of all of the things in their life. I feel that an “I Do” would be necessary to reiterate that they should be listing things like “the time I get to spend playing outside - $1,000” or “helping my mom cook - $3,000” or “spending time with my family/pets - $1 million,” rather than “my Xbox,” “my phone,” “my iPad.” This not only gives them an opportunity to count their blessings and realize how “rich” they all are, it gives a great opportunity for the teacher to get to know the students better and see what is important to them.

[Kayla Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mountain Girl” is certain her family is poor although she cannot seem to convince her parents of the same truth. Fed up with the way they are living she begs her parents to get better jobs so they can all enjoy the finer things in life. However, after putting dollar values to their nature experiences, Mountain Girl comes to find that her, her brother, and her outlandish parents are rich in more ways than one and that you really can’t put a price on being able to enjoy the outdoors. I thought this was a unique and insightful read. As the reader, you get an inside look into what it is to like to be the child of someone classified as a “hippie”. Although the term “hippie” is never used in the book when you learn about how the narrator’s parents operate it ultimately points to hippie like culture. I was curious as to see how the plot would unfold, as it is not clear if it was going to follow the predictable path or not. It did ultimately follow the predictable path in the end – Mountain girl learning that the measure of wealth is not about monetary income, but the author takes the reader there by a winding path so it is not ultimately certain at first. The book had a really nice flow and the entire book seemed to center around honoring nature. The socioeconomic status of the family was a major theme in the book because they were poor and that was the primary element the main character wanted to fix. This would be a great book to use in the classroom to teach about developing a love for nature and the outdoors and to teach that monetary wealth is not the only kind of wealth. A great activity to do after reading the book is to have students come up with lists of how they are wealthy - with the exception of money.

Baylor, B. (1994). The Table Where Rich People Sit. Illus. P. Parnall. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another wonder by this pair of creators that are so well suited to each other. This is a bit preachy and obvious, but still glorious. Recommended to anyone tired of the rat race or the city... get yerself thinkin' on it.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to look through the recently-returned books to see what people in the community are borrowing, and this picture book in verse caught my eye. The illustrations are a bit dated, but the text is wonderful.

A young girl is frustrated by her parents’ apparent lack of ambition and their lack of material wealth. She is frustrated by the family’s hand-made dining room table, their beaten-up truck, their worn-out clothes. She doesn’t understand why her parents can’t be like everyone else, and she calls a family meeting to address her concerns.The girl’s parents gently remind her that wealth comes in all different forms, and that while they might not have material wealth, they are surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, and enjoy a freedom most people never experience.

I’m sure there are a lot of children out there who can relate to the young girl in this story, who wonder why they can’t have all the shiny new things that everyone else seems to have. Whether it’s because they have a struggling single parent, or unconventional parents like the ones in this story, hardworking immigrant parents or parents who live in an economically struggling area, there are countless children who are angry, confused or hurt by the inequality they see in their world. While the parents in this story appear to have chosen to live a less conventional life, their message of appreciating the countless free blessings in the world can apply to people everywhere.

The Table Where The Rich People Sit is definitely a bit dated, but it’s still a wonderful story that might offer some comfort to children who feel hurt by life’s inequalities. I remember having a very similar conversation with my parents as a child, when I was angry at them for not being doctors or lawyers like the parents of the rich children at my school, and hurt that they apparently didn’t love me enough to work harder so that we could have more material things. Sometimes it can be a great comfort to children just to realize that there are other children out there who feel the same way they do!

[Kyra Calnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Giant Leap, written by Burleigh, captures the joy that the world shared on July 20, 1969 that the first man set foot on the Moon. Using descriptive language and detailed illustration to describe the journey, Burleigh with illustrator Mike Wimmer, create an account of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they depart from two spaceships, Columbia and Eagle. Far below on Earth, hundreds of millions of people tune in to watch the TV camera attached to Eagle. As Aldrin salutes the American flag and Armstrong grasps what feels like a dream in one picture. Burleigh acknowledges that the world is united for one moment by such an amazing feat. The men must return to Eagle in order to return to Columbia, which is now far off orbiting the Moon. After safety reaching Columbia, the men can rest after being awake for eighteen hours. It was an exhausting adventure, but worth every sleepless hour. At the end of the re-telling of the story, Burleigh describes briefly the factual account of the first step made by man onto the Moon. Here it is explained that President John F. Kennedy had lead the movement to win the prize for the moon during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The title of this book is inspired by the beautiful statement Armstrong made, heard by all on Earth, “That’s one small step for man- one giant leap for mankind.”

[Grace Willits · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Table Where Rich People Sit is one of the most unique picture books I have ever read. It is unlike any other because it doesn't feel as though its target audience is children. The main character is a girl who worries that her parents don’t care that they are not a rich family. The family gathers around their wooden dining table, because the girl has called a meeting to discuss the family finances. The daughter is taking on the more practical role, asking her parents to be realistic with her, for once, about their financial state. Her parents tell her about all the things they have that make them “rich” in their life; sunsets, sleeping beneath the stars, hearing coyotes, one another. The word "rich" is proven to have more than one meaning. Life can be rich without an abundance of money and things. What a challenging lesson for a young girl with free spirited parents to understand. I find this conversation to be inspiring, and an appropriate book to read or share around the holiday season when the lure of materialistic things haunts us. The writing style is poetic verse, which adds depth to the story. Also, the illustrations are original to most picture books because they appear to be extremely Southwestern inspired. After reading, I was inspired to rethink the things in my life that make me "rich", I was happy to be reminded.

[Julie]

This 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.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The Table Where Rich People Sit is another interesting book by author, Byrd Baylor. Mountain Girl, as her family calls her, believes her family is poor because they have few material items of much value. Her family attempts to calculate the value of her life’s riches- the outdoors, the sunsets, the wildlife surrounding her small home. She learns what is truly important as she talks with her family at the table where rich people sit.
Teaching tool: After reading I’m in Charge of Celebrations a couple of years ago, I instantly recognized Baylor’s style in this book too. Therefore, a lesson in author’s craft would be easy. The unique formatting is apparent in each text. The illustrations are also quite different and abstract, but very interesting. The book’s message about recognizing your “riches”, being grateful for what you have, appreciating life’s blessings would be powerful lessons for students. The author offers vivid and interesting language for students to identify using context clues or emulate in their own writing. Lastly, this book could be used to teach multiculturalism.

[Sarah Perleschi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picturebook is narrated by a girl who is trying to understand how her parents can call themselves rich when she sees many signs of them being poor. She calls a meeting to ask her parents what their income is, and as she adds up these values she starts to realize some things are worth more than a number. The family discusses the value of things like seeing the sky, feeling the wind, watching a cactus bloom, or smelling the rain coming. The narrator realizes these experiences cannot be monetized, and money might not be quite as important as she thought.
I could see this picturebook being used in an elementary school classroom to introduce young students to descriptive language. This book contains beautiful descriptions that act as a useful model for students in terms of descriptive language. Students could locate the descriptive language and tell what sense it relates to. They could also write their own descriptive passages based on the ones they read in the book. The book could also be used to discuss the value we place on things, and what it truly means to be “rich.”

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl calls a family meeting to discuss her family's financial situation. She's sure they could be doing better. Sitting at their handmade wooden table, she asks her parents how much money they have. They begin adding up all of their riches - their sunsets, the wildlife they've seen, the time they have to watch a cactus flower bloom - and assign each a monetary value in the thousands of dollars. Gradually the girl begins to understand that the world her parents have created for the family is more beautiful and rewarding than anything money could buy. The message is powerful and poetically delivered, but the tone is not preachy. This is a celebration of nature, particularly of the American southwest, and the line drawings with washes of yellows and orange highlight the stark beauty of the region.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parents who have strong convictions about their lives confront a daughter who disagrees that they are 'rich'. She wants them to get better-paying jobs, ones inside, with no windows to look outside.

Yes, their table was hand crafted with love, but they can't be rich...

Patiently, and with devotion to their children, their way of live, their surroundings, and their values, her parents show the narrator how to value what you have.

Baylor's words are simple, sounding as if they COULD come out of the mouth of a sweet, if not exasperated daughter who just wants the trappings of what she sees as success...I love the tone.

Parnall's illustrations are breathtaking accompaniments...they show the sweep of the settings, the smallness of humans within those settings, and the incredible harmony of the two. Baylor and Parnall together create such beauty.

[Mary Raccuia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mountain Girl, the name her family calls her ,is sure her parents don't have enough ambition to make the family rich. She doesn't want to be the girl with the old clothes at school anymore. She calls a family meeting to discuss the families finances to come up with a plan so they can get rich! What she discovers is that her family is rich in things that matter to them. They love nature and the sky and never ever want to work in a building where they would spend the day inside. Mountain Girl discovers her family is rich! They are rich with life not with money.
This read aloud for 4th graders and up is a great read about families, economics and how everyone has their own set of values. Money doesn't make you rich!!!!

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story about finding the riches in your own life. Mountain Girl and her family start to realize that although they may be impoverished, they have different kinds of wealth. They begin to explore the nature and beautify around them. To me, this represents a family so full of love that they don't need material values. So many families today have lost the ability to view the world around them as beautiful. There are constant economic crises, difficulties finding jobs and conflicts between family members. When we let these issues play a large role in our lives and family we can easily forget what is important.

[Nancy Mosqueda · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I began to read this story I thought it was about a self-absorbed brat of a girl who gave no thought to respect or the feelings of her parents. Throughout the book however, my admiration for her parents and their simplicity grew as every time she complained about them being poor and not having ambitions, she was brought down with the gentle reminder that they were indeed rich and providing her with proof of how rich they truely were with a list of the things around them that made them rich perhaps not monetarily but sentimentally. Their love and perseverance to show her she was indeed rich proves correct and opens our main character's mind and heart to what riches really are.

[Lesly Bruner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mountain Girl cannot understand why so her parents won't just admit that they are poor. They are always talking about how rich they are, but she doesn't understand how they can have such little sense. Sitting at their handmade wood table that looks nothing like a table you would find in a furniture store says it all. Mountain Girl tries to encourage her parents to get different jobs and be more ambitious, so they can make more money. Through this conversation and the calculating of riches, Mountain Girl begins to see her parents view of wealth and learns something about her own, also.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in one of the best ways possible: I was at a favorite bookstore, with the vague mission of looking for another book entirely, when the cover of this book caught my eye, and reminded me that I'm In Charge of Celebrations was one of my favorite books when I was a girl...and so I sat down to read this one, and now it too is a favorite.

[Jessica L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations in the story are wonderful. This story is about a young lady who thinks her family is poor. Throughout the story, her parents try to convince her that material possessions and cash do not mean as much as other things in life do.

Themes: love, family, acceptance, nature

This could be used to talk about the ways and different places that families live. Students could make a list of what they feel they add to their family.

[Amy Haus · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't look at the copyright, you might think that this book was written in the 1970s. The main character is "Mountain Girl," and her family lives a simple life in the desert. This is their choice, and they are not portrayed as victims of poverty. As a matter of fact, they are rich with intangibles. A good book to knock your kid down a peg!

[Kylie Perrine]

This is a story about a young girl whose family struggles with money. She envies the rich people and wants all the things they get. Through out the story she learns that it does not matter how much you have but who you have to share it with. THe story has very simple picture which adds meaning to the book that sometimes less is more.

[Etta Mcquade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is delightful, first of all, because of the very nice writing of Byrd Baylor. You can just imagine a teenage girl saying, "I'm the one who called the meeting, and the subject is money; and I say we don't have enough of it." The family goes on to evaluate just how much "money" they do have and realize (as does the reader) that money doesn't determine riches.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic Story for little readers, and adults, about how money is not the most important thing in life. Travel through the story with a Little girl who talks to her family about where they were born, and the world around them. Towards the end her family is truly rich.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baylor's editors at first asked her to tone down the "attitude" of this young girl narrator, but that wasn't an option. Her probing challenge to her parents about why they don't "work" more and earn more money allows an exploration of her own evaluations of the life they live as a family.

[Melanie Swider Wenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful message and lesson - you don't need to be rich to be happy. I love to read this book aloud each year during our short text unit and our social issues unit. It always amazes me to hear all of the lessons and thinking my students have after reading this book.

[Taina]

This book begins with the main character, a daughter, calling a family meeting to complain that the family is not rich and her parents need better jobs. It ends with the daughter (and the reader) understanding that non-material things can also make a family rich.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story about celebrating the riches we have that count far more than money. A young girl wants her parents to get better jobs and make more money. They hold a family meeting and talk about how "rich" they are in so many other ways.

[Jayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book when I got it from grandma looked so big and long. Now it only takes a few minutes to read it! I loved this book as a child.

[Smi4ever2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great moral for children.

[Bridget Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me tear up. And has incredible illustrations. I haven’t seen anything like it before!