From School Library Journal
Grade 3-8–The United States is stitched together chronologically in this stunning book that features a quilted spread for each state. Yorinks enlisted a librarian from each state to contribute a short entry to point up a few significant facts that add to the tapestry of the emerging nation. Readers will learn, for example, that in 1732, James Oglethorpe wanted to establish a refuge for debtors and a slave-free state, but despite his best intentions, Georgia soon began using slave labor. Also, President Abraham Lincoln wanted Nevada to become a state for two reasons–most residents favored the Union and opposed slavery, and Nevada's silver could help pay for war expenses. A Historical Introduction and A Note from the Author/Illustrator explain the artist's process in selecting contributors to the book and in choosing appropriate fabrics for each state. An appendix of State Facts includes the date each entered the Union along with state symbols, a fun fact, and its claim to fame. The quilted representations are not only artistically intricate and beautiful, but also informative. A handsome book to linger over and learn from.
–Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Library Binding
edition.
Gr. 5-8. Yorinks and a posse of librarians and other contributors take a cheery look at the formation of the U.S. Each state, starting from the first, Delaware, and proceeding to Hawaii, the last, gets a double-page spread. Yorinks quilts an image of each state, its capital indicated by a star, surrounded by "conversational prints," patterned fabrics that reflect the state's history or products, and a floral with the state flower. A state native or a local librarian writes a paragraph about how the state came into the union, often with a fact or two about the politics involved. Periodically, a map of the entire U.S. up to that historical point appears, quilted of course, delineating the Louisiana Purchase, the Missouri Compromise, and so on. Yorinks notes she never uses an image twice, and engaged readers will see that though cows loom large in many states' histories, they are all different. Many of the librarians whose writing appears here will be familiar to readers of library literature and reviewing media. Charming in multiple ways.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
