This Table

A wooden dining table stands in the middle of a house and also stands the test of time in this charming picture book. The transformation from a maple seed, to a mature tree, to the wood being cut, sanded, and stained to tip-top table perfection in a workshop, is clearly traced. Carefully crafted, the finished table is “strong and stable” and holds center court in the day-to-day activities of a busy family throughout the years.

Brooke Smart’s detailed watercolour illustrations show the fine-grained maple table at the heart of birthday party celebrations; covered with art supplies, jigsaw puzzles and science projects; and turned into a blanketed fort that hosts “secret club meetings”. Indispensable, “mostly it was for gathering, and sharing stories, and being together, and for many meals big and not so big.” As the years go by, there is always room for adding another chair as the family expands. With every page turn, the characters grow older, but the table remains the beating heart of the home and the place where memories are made. A touching double-page spread shows the table cleared with empty chairs in front of a wall full of framed family pictures which readers will recognize from earlier scenes in the book. The final pages showcase a cross-section view inside many diverse families’ homes, with everyone enjoying time together around a unique table of their own.

Debut picture book author Alex Killian focuses on a common, often overlooked object and highlights its extraordinariness. The warm and inviting text has lovely flourishes that offer a lyrical surprise: “The legs were attached to the top with screws that turned like ballerinas on a stage.”

This Table is a well-crafted, superbly designed picture book that will hold up to repeated readings.