The Long Silk Strand: A Grandmother's Legacy to Her Granddaughter [Library Binding]

Laura E. Williams (Author), Grayce Bochak (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1995

A picture book set in ancient Japan presents the story of the love of a granddaughter and grandmother for each other, the pieces of silk thread the grandmother winds into a ball, and what happens when the grandmother dies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This graceful story, the author's first, has the weight of a time-honored folktale. Each evening, Yasuyo's grandmother ties together silk threads and adds them to an ever-growing ball. For each thread, she tells her granddaughter a story from her life ("This thread is for the time I visited my grandmother above the clouds"). When Grandmother dies in her sleep, a tearful Yasuyo sees a strand of silk thread descending from the sky. Climbing it up to the clouds, she joins her grandmother. But after spying her parents and brother down below, Yasuyo realizes that she will miss them-and they her. Grandmother promises, "You will be with me always. All of my memories of you are tied into this." She snaps off a piece of thread and gives it to Yasuyo, who makes her way down the strand and imagines the day when she, too, will roll a ball and tell her own granddaughter that "this thread is for the time I visited my grandmother above the clouds." Featuring a distinctive palette of cool, muted colors, Bochak's (Paper Boats) elegant, understated cut-paper art evokes the tale's Japanese setting while underscoring the considerable emotional impact of Williams's tender story. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-8. Although this is an original story, it has the feel of a classic fairy tale; and the innovative paper collage art literally adds an extra dimension. The story, set in ancient Japan, begins as Yasuyo watches her grandmother tie together pieces of string into one long ball. As she winds, Grandmother tells Yasuyo the story each strand represents: the time she visited her own grandmother above the clouds, when she met her husband, her child's birth. One day she tells the last story and dies. Yasuyo follows the ball of string up to heaven, where it is her intention to stay with her grandmother, but finally the love still on earth leads the way back. The telling is stately but is also full of warmth. Children will appreciate the sentiment and will want a second and third look at the pictures, which use perspective, dimension, and sheer beauty to hold attention. Ilene Cooper

Product Details

• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Boyds Mills Pr; 1st edition (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563972360
• ISBN-13: 978-1563972362
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,360,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Long Silk Strand, August 22, 2001

By 

"lmdelnegro" (Windsor, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Silk Strand: A Grandmother's Legacy to Her Granddaughter (Library Binding)

The Long Silk Strand is superb! It is the ideal book for a child dealing with the grief for a lost grandparent. It focuses on the positive aspects of life, impressing the importance of the child not only to the deceased grandmother but, also to parents and others who love the child and would be devastated if the child were to join her grandmother. Williams' work is of profoundly superior quality and is accompanied by beautiful illustrations. Anytime a child I know loses a grandparent, I purchase this book for him.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads Like a folk Classic, July 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Long Silk Strand (Paperback)

I LOVED this tale. My daughter enjoyed it, too. Set in ancient Japan, the story unfolds like a centuries old folk tale that has been lovingly passed down through the generations. What a surpise to discover it is new and original to the author. "The Long Silk Strand" represents the life of an old woman as recounted to her granddaughter, a different tale for each silk thread wound into a ball. When the ball is complete, the grandmother dies, and her loving granddaughter goes in search of her in heaven. But the living and her life ahead call her home again. The story is beautiful and simple, its rich texture wonderfully rendered in the illustrations. I can well imagine this tale told by a storyteller in a candle-lit room -- how lovely to find it in a modern book.