Customer Reviews

The Promise Quilt

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Both of my Grandmothers quilted, but no other family members seem to believe in the magic of a homemade quilt. I purchased this book for my three preschool daughters. Little did I know what a powerful read aloud opportunity this is. You get: children helping without complaining, a girl who wants to go to school to learn to make her mark, a history lesson, unselfishness, strangers helping one another, and quilting, all in one book! I wept reading this sweet lesson to my children the first time, and every time since.

This is an excellent book to explain the feelings of the Civil War to a child in a way that they will understand. The story was easily readable for my five year old son and the illustrations added to the overall feeling of the story. We have read this book several times since purchasing it, and my children never tire of hearing the story. If your family likes to explore Civil War History, you should make this a part of your library. It not only teaches how the young girl and her brother felt about their families involvement in the war, but it told a story of how they helped to pull their community together after the war to keep a promise made to young Addie by her father before he went off to fight.

This is an excellent book to explain the feelings of the Civil War to a child in a way that they will understand. The story was easily readable for my five year old son and the illustrations added to the overall feeling of the story. We have read this book several times since purchasing it, and my children never tire of hearing the story. If your family likes to explore Civil War History, you should make this a part of your library. It not only teaches how the young girl and her brother felt about their families involvement in the war, but it told a story of how they helped to pull their community together after the war to keep a promise made to young Addie by her father before he went off to fight.

This book was kind-of sad, but very well written! It felt very real and was really interesting. It is about a family who's dad dies and they have nothing left. They are very poor,but the children want to go to school. So the mother raises money by selling a quilt she makes. Overall this book is very heart-warming.

This one has been around for a few years and it is one of those children's books that age well. It deals with the Civil War Era and has been quite well researched. This is an ideal book to use in introducing children to the concept of the Civil War in that it does not dwell on battles, generals, politics or any of the other nasty aspects of war; only the most tragic...the civilian population who is caught up in circumstances they have no control over.

The story is written through the eyes of a little girl whose entire world ends at the top of the top of the ridge she can see from her front yard. There are rumors of war and one day her father marches off to become a guide for General Lee. The last sight our little girl has of her father is his walking toward the ridge in a red flannel shirt.

The war is not kind to the family of our child. Soldiers come and cut their trees, kill their animals and ruin their small crops. At first the family receives letters from papa but then they stop.

Our small child was always promised that when she was old enough, she would be set across the ridge to attend school; her life long dream. After the war though, it is found that the school and all of its contents had been burned by the solders...there was no more school.

A kindly lady had sent the little girl her fathers red flannel shirt after he had died in a Union Hospital. It was the only thing the family had to remember of their father.

A quilt was made buy the little girls mother to sell in the north to raise money for new books so that a new school could be started. As chance would have it, mama ran out of material for the quilt and the little girl must decide whether to keep the shirt or give it to her mother to finish the quilt.

This is a story of one family's survival, hard work and love during very trying times. It is a rather sad story but never the less quite up lifting. It is quite well written and the illustrations which are done is soft pastels are quite well executed and detailed.

For those that love history, quilting, and a good story of human courage, sacrifice and tenacity, then this is the one for you. It is one of the better works I have found that introduce this era to the little ones. I recommend it highly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This was a really good one to add to my collection of children's quilt books. Illustrations beautiful as well as great content. Recommend it to anyone who quilts and/or has grandchildren!

This is a really great story to add to an already exisiting quilt thematic unit, wonderful for the more mature, Elementary reader.

With all the marginal material in the library for children, it is always so pleasant to find a real gem. The Promise Quilt very poignantly presents a Civil War tale in which family values and personal character shine. Candace Ransom's narrative is compelling and Ellen Beier's illustrations are lovely. I'll be adding this top rate book to our home library and certainly recommend it to every family!