Mining for Heart: “How a Little Red Chair Sparked a Picture Book” by Cathy Stefanec Ogren

Posted on by Beth Anderson

Think back…do you have a favorite piece of furniture from your past? One that comes with precious memories? One that’s part of YOUR story. But what if that special piece of furniture could share ITS story? Author Cathy Stefanec Ogren’s latest book is just such a tale, and here she shares how she found the heart of THE LITTLE RED CHAIR. 

Cathy is offering a GIVEAWAY!! A copy of THE LITTLE RED CHAIR to one lucky person who comments below! 

Congratulations to Robin Brett Wechsler, winner of the choice of a signed copy of THE AMAZING POWER OF GIRLS or a 20-minute “Ask Me Anything” from Maria Marianayagam!

How a Little Red Chair Sparked a Picture Book

By Cathy Stefanec Ogren Little Red Chair cover

The first time I saw the little red chair was in a huge Victorian home owned by my lifelong friend. I was charmed by the chair’s size, color, tiny brass wheels, and its upholstered tufts and buttons. It called to me as if to say, “Come sit.”

The little chair became a focal point in my friend’s home. It was a place where her children and adults vied to sit. When my daughter and I visited, she was immediately drawn to the little chair. As I like to say, it was love at first “sit.” A few years later, my friend and her husband decided to relocate to Florida. They had an enormous estate sale. My daughter scooped up that little red chair with its squeaky brass wheels. It now resides in her bedroom where her children like to sit and read.

IMG_1545I recalled my mother’s love and care for the antique furniture she inherited from her family. She taught us to have an appreciation for antiques and respect the history behind them. I thought about my daughter’s well-loved cloth doll she took to bed each night and the stuffed animals my grandchildren affectionately carry around. The image of the chair stayed with me and wouldn’t go away. I knew that sweet chair had a magical story to tell. My imagination danced with ideas. Can someone have an emotional attachment to a chair? Can a chair have an emotional attachment to a human?

The hardest part of crafting a story starring an inanimate object was giving the little red chair a personality and feelings. To do this, I pulled from emotions of hope, joy, loss, loneliness, and despair used in the story. I imagined myself as the chair. I tried to experience the chair’s physical and emotional feelings in different situations. At the story’s beginning, when Mia and her mother enter the antique shop, the chair wants to be noticed. If I were the chair, I’d like to look my best. Using the chair’s physical characteristics, I wrote the chair “tightened its buttons, fluffed its tufts, and straightened its tiny brass wheels.” When Mia first sits in the chair, its tufts provide her with a welcoming “cozy and warm” place to sit – like a gentle hug. And when Mia tells the chair they’re going to be best friends, “Every tuft in the little red chair fluffed.”

Spread page

To enhance the chair’s personality, I gave it inner feelings. The last words on the first page, Maybe today, are made with the hope and anticipation that someone will buy the chair. When Mia tries to convince her mother to take the chair home, Please, wishes the chair. Later in the story when the chair is lost, it desperately wishes…don’t leave me here. Someone, come and get me!

I gave a voice to the chair through its tiny brass wheels. Squeakity-squeak appears in variations throughout the story to show the chair’s feelings. The special relationship between Mia and the little red chair grows as Mia grows. When she leaves for college, there is a feeling of deep loss by the chair as “every tuft in the little red chair lost its fluff.” Squeakity-sniff! This is followed by loneliness and despair when the chair is lost in a move. The end of the story comes full circle. By weaving in the right word choices to help express mood and emotions and techniques that give the story spark, I want readers to feel a genuine connection to the little red chair that will capture their hearts.

Don’t forget to leave a comment to get in on the giveaway for a copy of THE LITTLE RED CHAIR!  (US addresses only, please. Winner announced 7/12/24)

If you enjoy a book, please support authors and illustrators by taking a moment to leave reviews online. 😀

Cathy and the real llittle red chairAuthor Bio:

Cathy Stefanec Ogren believes in writing books that spark curiosity and imagination. She is the author of PEW! The Stinky and Legen-Dairy Gift from Colonel Thomas S. Meacham which came out in 2023. Before becoming a full-time writer, Cathy was an elementary school teacher, working with second and third-grade students. Her final years in education were spent as a librarian in a small school. Cathy spends lots of time writing in her office or reading piles of picture books in a cozy chair of her own.

Cathy’s Facebook  Cathy’s X/Twitter    Cathy’s Instagram Cathy’s BlueSky  Cathy’s Website

29 thoughts on “Mining for Heart: “How a Little Red Chair Sparked a Picture Book” by Cathy Stefanec Ogren”

  1. Your post brought back a sweet memory of a chair used in my kindergarten play in which I played Goldilocks. You have me thinking about the emotional connections I have to small chairs for children. Thanks for pulling me in.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Nice write up! Sure to be a beloved treasure of children and adults. No need to enter me in the drawing as I’ve already ordered this delightful story.

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. “I can’t wait to read this book. And it brought back the memories of ou family’s little wooden “high” chair that was just the right right height for a child making the transition from a toddler’s high-chair to a seat at the table with the “big” kids. My grandmother had it for my mom who used it for me and my sister, I used it for my 3 children, my daughter used it for her 2 boys, and now it’s being used by my great grandchildren. Thank you for sharing how this story came to be.

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  8. I love this story behind the story and linked it on my blog for July 8th. It is a lovely, sweet book and I would be happy to share it with my grandkids!

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    1. You are welcome! It’s a pleasure to read about how you crafted The Little Red Chair! It can be very difficult creating a story from a memory – clearly the secret is finding the freedom is to hold on to the “heart” while allowing yourself to go fiction. 🙂

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  11. I enjoyed learning about this heartwarming book and how you were able to give a chair human feelings and hopes. It reminded me of when my mom told me last year that she and my dad were going to donate chairs that my grandmother had needlepointed seat cushions for and I immediately asked if I could have them instead–they bring back so many memories, but unlike your little red chair, they are not comfortable to sit in for long times.

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  13. Love the back story of this book! We have a small chair in our living room that was my grandmothers. Now our collection of teddy bears, as well as small children who come to visit, vie to sit in the chair.

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  14. This was fun to read. I loved reading an arc of THE LITTLE RED CHAIR before Cathy was on my blog. I somehow immediately thought of Corduroy, a beloved book I’ve read more times than I can count! as I was reading it and for Mia wanting the chair was just like the little girl wanting Corduroy and how they became good friends. I think families will have the same attachment to THE LITTLE RED CHAIR as mine did to Corduroy. Congratulations!

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  16. I instantly love this character! Thanks for sharing, Cathy. What a beautiful background story. Your word choices to bring the chair to life are so effective and emotional. Congratulations!

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  18. Pingback: The Little Red Chair: A Picture Book Review by Lori Keating and a Giveaway – Carol Baldwin – Author, Teacher, Speaker

  19. If your book is as good as the intro, then I do believe it will be cherished by all. I know that I am looking forward to reading about the Red Chair :>)

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