Blue Willow
Paperback – Illustrated, September 30, 1976
Penguin Young Readers Group · Paperback · September 30, 1976
To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember.
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- Who it’s for
- A treasured plate gives this story of a moving family's search for home its emotional center.
- Themes
- Dust Bowl and Great Depression, Displacement, Longing for home
- Genres
- 20th-Century U.S., Homelessness & Poverty, Farm & Ranch Life
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Start with this bookAbout this book
To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember. Now that her father was an itinerant worker, Janey didn't have a home she could call her own or any real friends, as her family had to keep moving, following the crops from farm to farm. Someday, Janey promised the willow plate, with its picture of a real house, her family would once again be able to set down roots in a community.
Continue reading
Blue Willow is an important fictional account of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and has been called The Grapes of Wrath for children. It won a Newbery Honor and many other awards.
The Pull of Home
A treasured plate gives this story of a moving family's search for home its emotional center.
Come here for
- A child's yearning for home amid a family's constant moves
- The quiet meaning of a plate pictured with a house
Expect
- A grounded story shaped by poverty and displacement
- Longing for roots, friendship, and a place to belong
Where it sits
| 20th-Century U.S. | 90% |
|---|---|
| Homelessness & Poverty | 68% |
| Farm & Ranch Life | 42% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Parent-Child Stories
- Farm & Ranch Life
- Homelessness & Poverty
- Authors
- Doris Gates
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- September 30, 1976
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- Dust Bowl and Great Depression · Displacement · Longing for home
- Reading lane
- Parent-Child Stories