The Patchwork Quilt was written by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book is about a little girl named Tanya who develops a special relationship with her grandmother as she works on a quilt. Tanya's mother doesn't understand how special a homemade quilt is. Grandmother considers one a masterpiece. Tanya begins to sit with her grandmother as she works on the quilt. She learns how a quilt can tell a story. Over time, patches are made out of special articles of clothing such as Tanya's Halloween costume, her brother's favorite pair of pants, and mother's dress she made for Christmas. Tanya's mother eventually sees how special a quilt is and begins to help grandmother with the quilt making.
After Christmas, Grandmother gets ill that keeps her away from the family and the quilt. Tanya and her mother begin working on the quilt. Tanya's brother even helps with the cutting of the patches. Tanya soon takes the project on by herself as her mother is busy taking care of grandmother. Weeks later, grandmother recovers and begins working on the quilt again with Tanya's help. The quilt is finished and the reflects on some of the patches and where they originated. One of the corner patches was stitched "For Tanya from you Mama and Grandma" for all of her hard work on the quilt.
This book is written beautifully. The story contained dialogue between the characters. The illustrations by Jerry Pinkney are beautiful. They are very detailed especially in the pictures of the quilt pieces. The illustrations con consist of pencil, graphite, and water color. I believe the illustrations seem dated as if the story took place in the 1970's or 1980's. The language of the book does not imply this era. However, this "dated"look also gives it a nostalgic vibe.
I can relate to this book as I come from a family of women that make quilts and other handmade items. I've learned to appreciate the quality and specialness of a homemade afghan or quilt. As a child, the homemade items made by my mother and grandmother were not as appreciated as they are now. For my wedding, my husband's grandmother made a quilt and it was signed by all the guests making it an extra special keepsake.
This book could be used in may ways in the classroom. The amount of dialogue contained in the book could serve as a model for students when writing stories including dialogue. This book could also be used to discuss family relationships and traditions. An extension activity could be that the class create a class quilt out of small pieces of fabric or paper that could be glued to a large piece of material or fabric.
After Christmas, Grandmother gets ill that keeps her away from the family and the quilt. Tanya and her mother begin working on the quilt. Tanya's brother even helps with the cutting of the patches. Tanya soon takes the project on by herself as her mother is busy taking care of grandmother. Weeks later, grandmother recovers and begins working on the quilt again with Tanya's help. The quilt is finished and the reflects on some of the patches and where they originated. One of the corner patches was stitched "For Tanya from you Mama and Grandma" for all of her hard work on the quilt.
This book is written beautifully. The story contained dialogue between the characters. The illustrations by Jerry Pinkney are beautiful. They are very detailed especially in the pictures of the quilt pieces. The illustrations con consist of pencil, graphite, and water color. I believe the illustrations seem dated as if the story took place in the 1970's or 1980's. The language of the book does not imply this era. However, this "dated"look also gives it a nostalgic vibe.
I can relate to this book as I come from a family of women that make quilts and other handmade items. I've learned to appreciate the quality and specialness of a homemade afghan or quilt. As a child, the homemade items made by my mother and grandmother were not as appreciated as they are now. For my wedding, my husband's grandmother made a quilt and it was signed by all the guests making it an extra special keepsake.
This book could be used in may ways in the classroom. The amount of dialogue contained in the book could serve as a model for students when writing stories including dialogue. This book could also be used to discuss family relationships and traditions. An extension activity could be that the class create a class quilt out of small pieces of fabric or paper that could be glued to a large piece of material or fabric.
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