By: Valerie Flournoy Publisher: Dial Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Illustrated Label: Dial Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 32 Publication Date: March 29, 1985 Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Product Description: Twenty years ago Valerie Flournoy and Jerry Pinkney created a warmhearted intergenerational story that became an award-winning perennial. Since then children from all sorts of family situations and configurations continue to be drawn to its portrait of those bonds that create the fabric of family life.
The Patchwork Quilt The Patchwork Quilt, by Valerie Flournoy, is about a girl named Tanya and her grandma who is making a quilt. Tanya went to chat with Grandma. Her grandma was working in the living room, making a patchwork quilt. She talked about when she was little girl her mom made a quilt. Tanya was inspired, so she wanted to make a quilt. Tanya wants to help Grandma finish the quilt. "Grandma's quilt takes care of her'' Tanya told mama. Grandma told Tanya a quilt tells your biography. Tanya told grandma "The quilt misses you". While grandma was ill, Tanya started to make the quilt for her. Later, grandma was better and the quilt was done. Then, she showed the quilt to everybody in the house. Tanya saw at the corner it says "from: grandma and mamma to: Tanya."
Tanya is a helpful and a caring person. When grandma got the cold, Tanya got the quilt and started doing it for. As soon as grandma told Tanya about the quilt, Tanya cared for the quilt. Grandma and Tanya are very caring to each other and to the quilt. When the quilt was finished the quilt the grandma felt happy. Tanya said "Your quilt misses you too, grandma." This book reminds readers to care about family.
By Abi
BEAUTIFUL BOOK AND BEAUTIFUL STORY Children and adults alike can and will appreciate this one. The story is basically the story of a young girl and her relationship with her grandmother, told through the making of a quilt. It is the story of family and family love and how one generation is linked to another and how all members of a family are linked together is so many ways. The writing is beautiful and the art work in this one is beyond a doubt some of the best in this genre. For those wanting a good, touching story, a story of family, this is the one for you. This work is in particular for anyone who is dealing with a elderly loved one who will not be with them much longer. This book would also be quite fascinating to all those who love to quilt. Recommend this one highly.
The colors of my life are beautiful and bold The other day a teacher came into the library where I work and explained to me that she was doing a unit with her kids on quilting. She already had some non-fiction titles on the subject, but what she really wanted was picture books that talked about the craft. Immediately I thought of "Show Way" by Jacqueline Woodson, "Goha the Wise Fool", by Denys Johnson-Davies (a quilted picture book), "Oma's Quilt" by Paulette Bourgeois, "Tar Beach" by Faith Ringgold (another quilted picture book), and "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt" by Deborah Hopkinson. But even before any of these book jumped to my mind, before I'd even stopped to consider a one of them, there was a book that I thought of first. "The Patchwork Quilt" by Valerie Flournoy is (I would dare say) the best-known quilting picture book of them all. A winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and the very first winner of the prestigious Ezra Jack Keats Books Award, this 1985 production and Reading Rainbow Book has remained a classic well past the time when most book lie on shelves forgotten.
Grandma has an idea. When she was a little girl her own mother made her a beautiful patchwork quilt. Now Tanya, her granddaughter, is showing some interest in Grandma's quilting. Therefore, she's going to make a quilt of her own. A "masterpiece" is what it's going to be. So when any family member has a special outfit made or has to get rid of a beloved set of pants, Grandma's always there, handy with the scissors. Slowly everyone in the family gets his or herself added to the quilt, until one day Grandma gets sick. There her quilt sits on the back of her old chair, gathering dust. Fortunately, Tanya knows she can take charge. Her mother agrees to do the sewing and Tanya cuts fabric. Even her brothers get in on the act. Soon enough Grandma is well again, the quilt is finished, and everyone is now a part of it.
Flournoy has written a book that has a great deal of dignity to it. The words are not necessarily easy ones, but they come off as natural when written on the page. Flournoy sets up emotional plot points, like Tanya's mother coming to accept why the quilt is really important. Grandma's recovery, I should point out, isn't presented as something miraculous or out of place. It works within the framework of the narrative. There's really only one moment in the plot that gave me pause. When Tanya starts working on the quilt herself, she feels that there's a piece that's definitely missing. She ponders and ponders this until finally she realizes what that piece might be. Grandma. Grandma is missing from the quilt. So while Grandma is asleep Tanya sneaks into her room, goes to the old patchwork quilt under which her grandmother sleeps, and then proceeds to cut it up without asking anyone for permission. I don't know about you, but if I woke up and found that my quilt had been lovingly vandalized in this way I might get a little bit tetchy. Tanya never gets in trouble for it since her motives were pure. Still, it's an odd little addition. I mean, couldn't she at least have asked permission?
Jerry Pinkey, artist extraordinaire, was the man responsible for the illustrations. I'm not a huge fan of his work, but he does a lovely job with this book. The quilt looks very real. My grandmother made me one back that was very similar to the one presented on the cover. I'll admit right here and now that since this book was written in 1985, it's swimming in nostalgia for me. I love the 80s hair and clothes that people wear in it. From Grandma's gigantic glasses to Mama's shirt/vest combinations and shoulder pads, children of the eightiese will find themselves swimming in memories. Remember polo shirts that had collars that were different colors from the fabric of the shirt themselves? Remember shirts that had ruffles for no particular reason at all? It's all here. But for kids, this won't serve as a distraction since they won't recognize the era. Plus, Pinkney cleverly included some dated elements, but not a lot. If I didn't point out to you that it was written over 20 years ago, you might never notice it yourself.
The children who grew up with this book are having kids of their own these days. I dare say that for some, "The Patchwork Quilt" will be the first title they purchase for their children and the children of their friends. Arresting and emotional without playing those same emotions for cheap, Florunoy's book is her best known work. If you should be particularly fond of it, be sure to check out its sequel, "Tanya's Reunion", written ten years later. A necessary read.
The Patchwork Quilt: A wonderful story filled with family traditions, and love As pre-service teachers, we thought this book would be wonderful to have in our future classrooms. The story is culturally rich, and provides strong family values. Though the story featured an African-American family, there was no bias to it, and any culture would have fit in the story.We enjoyed learning about the family quilt, and all the stories that can be told with the fabrics that are woven within. You could easily have the children relate this to their own families, and integrate an activity in which the students make their own patch and write a story about it.The only downfall is that younger students may find this story a little slow or confusing, as it deals with the sickness of a Grandmother, and may be a touchy subject. Overall, we thought this book was a must-have for most Elementary classrooms.
Kids' View This review was written by Miss Lee's 3rd/4th multiage class in St. Louis, Missouri:
Several of us in Miss Lee's class didn't like this story because it was boring and easy to predict. This group usually likes mystery or adventure stories, so we found the Patchwork Quilt to be very straightforward. We rated this story at about one or two stars.
The other people in our class really enjoyed the book, because it talked about spending time with your family. We liked it because the author wrote a story that could have been set in any country or culture. The story was so good that we would give it four or five stars.
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