Dynamic Duo: Book 2
Picture Book: The Keeping Quilt
Author & Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Summary: This is another story of the
author’s great-grandmother, Anna, that involves her immigration from Russia to
America. Highlighted this time in her family’s story is a quilt, created by the
neighborhood women when Anna outgrows the one dress she brought from Russia.
Her mother says the quilt will remind them of home, “like having the family in
backhome Russia dance around us at night.” The trim of this quilt is Anna’s
babushka (Russian head covering). Other items of family clothing are cut into
animal & flower shapes and scattered on the blessing quilt. The quilt is
used throughout the years as a Shabbat (Sabbath) cloth, a wedding canopy, and a
blanket for newborns. Like the blessing cup in the previous PBT Dynamic Duo
offering, the keeping quilt is passed down from generation to generation via
the oldest female, a prize indeed!
Hanna’s Comments: A 25th Anniversary Edition is available with
15 bonus pages detailing the quilt’s journey to the museum where it now sits.
Offer both of these books in either order to encourage discussion of family
heirlooms and the spiritual heirlooms we keep from our familial ancestors and
religious ancestors.
Publisher & Date of Publication: Simon & Schuster, 1988
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up
# of Pages: 32
Available in Spanish? Yes
Formats other than Book: Tablet, audio cassette, video
There is also a video of the author reading the book and another
of the author showing the actual quilt from the story.
PBT Category: Award Winner, Pre 2K,
Non-fiction
PBT Topics this Book Connects with: aliens/immigrants/immigration/refugees/strangers,
ancestors/matriarchs & patriarchs, artifacts, babies/children, beauty,
blessings, bonds/connections, clothes/shoes, creativity/imagination/ingenuity,
family, feasting/food/hunger/nutrition, God’s presence, grandparents,
gratitude/thankfulness/thanksgiving, heritage, manna,
memories/remembering/ritual/tradition, milestones, nurturing, possessions,
presence, relationships, reverence, Sabbath, security, sharing, at table,
time/timing/over time, transformation, treasure, unity
Scripture Connections: Rituals
for keeping & remembering the Passover (Numbers 9:2-5); as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)
Idea(s) for Application: Use this book to talk about
your religious and familial rituals and how objects and artifacts comprise
important parts of those ceremonies.
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