The Table - by Winsome Bingham & Wiley Blevins (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Two Appalachian families, one White and one Black, are connected by a well-loved kitchen table"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Two families--both filled with love, both encountering hardship and joy, both living in the same place--and the one simple table that connects them all.

For years, a mining family's life revolves around their table. It's where they eat, read, sew, laugh, and pay the bills; it's stained with easter egg paint, warmed by fresh biscuits and the soft morning sun.

Outside the house, though, Appalachia changes. The coal mine closes, and the bills keep coming. Eventually, there's no choice but to move on-- and to say goodbye to the table.

But then: When a young girl's father sees the table by the road, he slams on the brakes. A lifelong carpenter, he can see it's something special. They bring it home and clean it up; sitting around it, they eat and work and laugh. The girl wonders if another child once sat there, if they were anything like her. She'll never know . . . but the table remembers.

The Table is a stirring contemplation on the similarity between even people whose lives are entirely different. The details of these different lives take many forms, but the love underlying both of these families makes them much more similar than they are different. The center of this book is family love, and the many important connections we share with the family we live with. Even in strife, this book shows, love provides a literal support.

Expressively illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Jason Griffin, the story is deeply personal to coauthors Wiley Blevins, raised in West Virginia, and Winsome Bingham, who immigrated as a child from Jamaica to the U.S. South.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Review Quotes

Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully written, this is a story that will encourage family discussion and reflection. This unique addition to the shelves celebrates the American experience through the lens of a beloved kitchen table.
--School Library Journal (starred review)

A beautiful allegory that will stand the test of time and be enjoyed by readers young and old alike.
--Booklist (starred review)

A brilliantly twined telling in which an object bears witness to the lives of two families.
--Publishers Weekly

A moving, elegantly constructed celebration of differences sure to foster empathy and stir the imagination.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Griffin's illustrations, with their vivid colors and rich textures of acrylic on wood grain paintings, breathe additional life into the story. The brief text skillfully weaves these parallel narratives, emphasizing love, tradition, and connection.
--Horn Book

About the Author

Wiley Blevins is an author, educational consultant, and researcher living in New York City. His family is originally from West Virginia, where he lived as a child. Both his grandfathers were coal miners and his grandparents on his father's side never learned to read or write. Wiley has written over 100 children's books and 16 for adults, focusing on early literacy. He is the author of the International Literacy Association's official brief on phonics.

Winsome Bingham is a soul food connoisseur, master cook, and disabled US Army war veteran. She has over fifteen years of teaching experience, and holds an MFA in Writing For Children and Young Adults. She is the author of the picture book Soul Food Sunday, which received a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor and multiple starred reviews. You can find her at binghamwrites.com.

Jason Griffin is the illustrator of two books written by Jason Reynolds: Ain't Burned All the Bright, for which he won a Caldecott Honor, and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. His fine art has been shown in major cities all over the world, including during a residency at Amsterdam's Het HEM museum. He lives in Queens, New York.