About this item
Highlights
- As she teaches her granddaughter to sew a traditional sweetgrass basket, a grandmother weaves a story, going back generations to her grandfather's village in faraway Africa.
- 4-8 Years
- 9.98" x 9.48" Paperback
- 48 Pages
- Juvenile Fiction, Historical
Description
About the Book
With its rhythmic text and evocative paintings, this powerful picture book spirals through time, becoming a triumphant song that keeps the African heritage of making baskets alive--a rich story of a craft, a culture, and a people.Book Synopsis
As she teaches her granddaughter to sew a traditional sweetgrass basket, a grandmother weaves a story, going back generations to her grandfather's village in faraway Africa. There, as a boy, he learned to make baskets so tightly woven they could hold the rain. Even after being stolen away to a slave ship bound for America, he remembers what he learned and passes these memories on to his children - as they do theirs.
Review Quotes
"Gracefully constructed...as intricate as the baskets and the history to which it pays tribute." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Clear poetic words and exquisite watercolor illustrations depict how the small circular basket holds the big circle of African-American history....Lewis' astonishing pictures combine the panoramas of upheaval and war with portraits of individuals in small circles weaving and passing on their heritage in craft and story." --Booklist, Starred Review "Raven's text masterfully frames several hundred years of African-American history within the picture-book format. Lewis's double-page watercolor images are poignant and perfectly matched to the text and mood." --School Library Journal "In solemn Gullah cadences, an old woman passes on to a grandchild centuries of history embodied in the Sea Islands' distinctive sweetgrass baskets...Powerfully evoking the passage of successive generations linked by the ancient skill." --Kirkus ReviewsAbout the Author
Margot Raven and E. B. Lewis collaborated on Circle Unbroken, a Booklist Top 10 Black History Book for Youth. Their most recent picture book was Night Boat to Freedom, published by FSG in 2006. The author lives in Charleston, South Carolina. The artist, a Caldecott Honor Medalist for Coming on Home Soon, lives in Folsom, New Jersey.