The Widow's Broom, by Chris Van Allsburg - Picturebook

I became introduced to Chris Van Allsburg books last year, with his story The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, in our basal reading book. After reading that story, I must say that I really was not enthralled with Van Allsburg, however, with the excitement of other teachers pushing me forward, I read some more of his books. I quickly realized that I enjoyed his works and wanted to read more and more. His sense of mystery that he left the reader with after reading his books was very exciting and I realized that many a theme could be drawn from his words. True, most of his illustrations (all done by him) were typically black and white, but with a bit more analyzing on my part, I realized that the black and white photographs were just right for the words and the themes that Van Allsburg was trying to get across to the reader. With all of this in mind, I decided to read The Widow’s Broom.

For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to books that recognize hatred, racism, and selfishness in the world and try to right these evils and allow the “underdog” character to succeed. I like the idea that love conquerors all and that eventually the truth will set a person free. In short, I want the bad guy to get what is coming to him/her in the end and the good guy to win. The Widow’s Broom is a book that embodies all of these characteristics, and I loved it. True, I enjoyed reading it to my class with the lights off and the shades drawn and with a spooky voice. I had set the tone for my third graders to enjoy a Halloween/Autumn type book, but this story goes so much deeper than that. The very real prejudices of the neighbors against the broom that is in a sense “gifted” to Widow Shaw is very real and more scary than anything that could fall from the sky on a dark, cold autumn night. The extent of actions that this prejudice takes the neighbors to reflects the Puritan beliefs and reminded me of the Salem Witch hunts in the 1600s. The reader feels a close bond with the Widow and her broom, who appears to be almost pet-like in it’s loyalty and desire to please. The only thing it does is help around the house, keep the Widow Shaw company, and sweep when it gets the chance. Therefore, when the reader sees the neighbors plot against the broom and openly pick on the innocent item, the reader is outraged (at least I know that I was!). The final act of injustice is proven when the broom is “burned at the stake” in order to supposedly rid the country of such evil. I laughed right along with my students when we all discovered that the Widow Shaw, such a seemingly helpless, old lady, had devised a plan to truly rid the country of the evil with the neighbors finally leaving in fear of a “ghost broom”.

This Van Allsburg book did not leave me wondering at the end, because it mentioned the white paint and the little hint in the beginning about the broom not sleeping. I knew that Widow Shaw had devised a clever plan to save her new companion and help mate. The justice that was written into the end of the story was very well appreciated by me, the reader, and twenty little third graders!