America's White Table

It was just a little white table...

The White Table is set in many mess halls as a symbol for and remembrance to service members fallen, missing, or held captive in the line of duty. Solitary and solemn, it is the table where no one will ever sit. As a special gift to her Uncle John, Katie and her sisters are asked to help set the white table for dinner. As their mother explains the significance of each item placed on the table, Katie comes to understand and appreciate the depth of sacrifice that her uncle, and each member of the Armed Forces and their families, may be called to give.

It was just a little white table... but it felt as big as America when we helped Mama put each item on it and she told us why it was so important. "We use a Small Table, girls," she explained first, "to show one soldier's lonely battle against many. We cover it with a White Cloth to honor a soldier's pure heart when he answers his country's call to duty." "We place a Lemon Slice and Grains of Salt on a plate to show a captive soldier's bitter fate and the tears of families waiting for loved ones to return," she continued." We push an Empty Chair to the table for the missing soldiers who are not here..."

A national award-winning author and speaker, Margot Theis Raven's long professional career includes writing in the fields of radio, television, magazines, newspapers and children's books. She has more than 1,000 published articles to her name and nine children's picture books.

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot, Margot's first book with Sleeping Bear Press, was a 2003 Children's Choice award winner from the International Reading Association. Margot's books bridge generations of readers through the belief that the worst of times can bring out the best in people and are often set against powerful backdrops such as World War II or America's Civil Rights period.

Mike Benny's illustrations have appeared in Time, GQ, The New Yorker, and Sports Illustrated magazines. His awards include three gold and two silver medals from the Society of Illustrators. Mike lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Mary Ann, and children, Adele and Hank. The Listeners is his second book with Sleeping Bear Press. He also illustrated America's White Table, written by Margot Theis Raven, and Oh, Brother, written by Nikki Grimes and published by HarperCollins.