BLUE WILLOW

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/

Blue Willow,
a realistic children's fiction book,
was published in 1940.

It was named a 
Newbery Honor book in 1941.

It was called the

 "Juvenile Grapes of Wrath." 

I loved it, and still do.  

I ordered old copies online

for myself, my children and grandchildren

for Christmas a few years ago.
 

 I envision a beautiful

mini-Blue Willow plate

as a Hallmark Christmas ornament.

It would make a great

Hallmark movie.

Hallmark could purchase the rights

and put the book back into print

as a gift to this generation. 

  Blue Willow

was my second favorite book
(Little Women was first)

when I was a little girl.

Maybe that's why I love

the Blue Willow plate pattern!

 

From Top:  Sister Gloria, Marcia (in the middle) and Cousin Tandra.  Summer of 1957.  Copyright 1957 Marcia Norwood

 
 I was eight years old in 1957,
when I picked up Doris Gates' book,
Blue Willow.

I didn't put it down 
until I finished reading it.

Author, 
Doris Gates, 
was a librarian 
who worked with migrant children 
in Fresno, California.   

Gates' story 
of a migrant girl
who longs for a permanent home
was considered groundbreaking
in its portrayal of contemporary 
working-class life in America.

Waiting for the school bus:  Cousin Tandra, Sister Gloria, Marcia.  Copyright 1957 Marcia Norwood

1970 Cover, based on the first edition design.

Author	Doris Gates
Illustrator	Paul Lantz
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's novel
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	1940
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	172pp

Written by a librarian who worked with migrant children in Fresno, California, this story of a migrant girl who longs for a permanent home was considered groundbreaking in its portrayal of contemporary working-class life in America.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/blue-willow#cart/cleanup

About This Book

In Blue Willow, Doris Gates (author) chronicles the harsh life experienced by migrant workers in California's Central Valley. Janey Larkin, the young daughter of migrant workers, wishes only for a home, friends and the opportunity to go to school. As the family moves from place to place to earn a less than meager living, Janey and her family experience hardships that are common to itinerant farm laborers.

Her most prized possession is a beautiful, blue-and-white Chinese Pagoda plate, with a blue willow design, given to her by her great-grandmother. Janey's dream is to live in a house beside a willow tree, just like the one on her cherished plate.

When her mother becomes ill, Janey contemplates making an incredibly big sacrifice for the welfare of her family. And to further complicate matters, Janey discovers the dishonest foreman is pocketing the family's hard-earned rent money.

The strength of the human spirit is quite evident in this touching story depicting the despair of migrant workers. The effect is stirring and compelling. This Newbery Medal Honor Book presents young readers with a valuable message of compassion.

Overview

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.  

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.

A little girl, who wants most of all to have a real home and to go to a regular school, hopes that the valley her family has come to, which so resembles the pattern on her treasured blue willow plate, will be their permanent home.

 https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEV1GCWvtTSB8AW.VXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NmFzY2dtBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDI4M18x?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=blue+willow+book

   The term "Willow" is applied in a general way to many of the copies of the blue-and-white porcelain imported into England from China during the last half of the eighteenth century,  Since the improvement of British pottery the trade with China naturally ceased.
 
For a century and a half the "Willow Pattern" has been the stock-pattern of nearly every British Pottery manufacturer, and although at times its popularity has waned, it has eventually returned to favour, and now is again at the apex of its popularity.
 
Thomas Minton was famous for Minton ware - a cream-coloured and blue-printed earthenware maiolica, bone china, and Parian porcelain; his factory was outstanding in the Victorian period for its "art" porcelains. He also popularized the famous so-called Willow pattern.
 
Engraved by Thomas Minton for Thomas Turner of Caughley, Shropshire, in the year 1780, it was closely followed by Royal Worcester, Spode, Adams, Wedgwood, Davenport, Clews, Leeds and Swansea.

BLUE WILLOW PLATE PATTERN

 CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

 https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT.B0VPtTlJUAwCVXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NmFzY2dtBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDI4M18x?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=blue+willow+plate+pattern

I created a

Blue Willow

necklace that looks like the plate. 

Beveled Glass BLUE WILLOW plate necklace.  Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood

Beveled Glass BLUE WILLOW plate necklace.  Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood

 HOW TO MAKE A BEVELED GLASS NECKLACE

CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2014/01/marcia-norwood-americas-storyteller.html

AMERICA'S STORYTELLER, Marcia Norwood - Tell Me A ...

Jan 11, 2014

My Original Handmade Design Pendant with Pearls and Porcelain Beads and Yellow Organza Necklace with Vintage Ad on Beveled Glass Pandant. Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood ...

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/

CLICK to ENLARGE.  I transformed a folding screen and added wire garden fencing to hang jewelry cards from.   Curtains on tension curtain rods make a beautiful background.  My booth at Independence Events Center:  Jewelry, Jewelry Bar, Potpourri, Flowered Headbands, My STORYTELLER Greeting Cards.  Copyright 2011 Marcia Norwood.

 

There are poems about the 

BLUE WILLOW plate!

Willow Pattern Poem

 CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

 http://www.thepotteries.org/patterns/willow1.html 

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

Cousin Tandra, Granny Lucille, Sister Gloria, and Marcia.  Copyright 1957 Marcia Norwood

   

Marcia Norwood

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

 

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/