A couple purchases a beautiful rocking chair in anticipation of their new baby. They sing to their son and read stories together, and as he grows, he rocks "back and forth, pretending the chair [is] a wild horse racing across the plains." Over time the rocker is forgotten and put away. When the boy, now a man, marries and has a child of his own, he remembers the chair and "lovingly dust[s] it off and place[s] it back where it belong[ed]" in the nursery, continuing three generations of love and tradition.
Inspired by the rocking chair they purchased for their own son, Love and the Rocking Chair is the final collaboration of Caldecott-winning artists Leo and Diane Dillon, completed before Leo's death in 2012. The real chair was "a beloved member of [their] family and witness to many wonderful memories." Paired with simple language, the restrained, expressive illustrations effectively convey the joy, sorrow and love of the changing family. --Jennifer Oleinik, freelance writer and editor