A Sweet, Sweet Basket [Hardcover]

Margie Willis Clary (Author), Dennis L. Brown; L. Dennis Brown (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

A modern day story rich in history and tradition. A wonderful tribute to the skill and dedication of the sweetgrass basketweavers of Mt. Pleasant, SC who have preserved from extinction an age-old African craft.
Keisha is fascinated by the sweetgrass baskets Grandma weaves and sells in her roadside stand. When Grandma agrees to teach her how to make her own basket, Keisha learns about much more than just basket weaving. She learns about her family s great heritage.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. Anyone who has visited South Carolina has seen the sweetgrass baskets sold in the marketplaces and along the road. Clary uses a conversation between a basket weaver and her young granddaughter, who wants to learn the skill, as a vehicle for explaining how the baskets are woven and their African-based history. Unfortunately, the text is rarely less than didactic, and there's never any sense that these are real people rather than just mouthpieces. Still, sweetgrass basket weaving is becoming a lost art, and it is nice to have this information in a book, even an imperfect one. Brown's gentle paintings go a long way in softening the story's rough edges. Ilene Cooper

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Sandlapper Pub Co; 1st edition (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878441271
• ISBN-13: 978-0878441273
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,992,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential cultural legacy, June 4, 2009

By 

C. Elliott (As-many-places-as-possible) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Sweet, Sweet Basket (Hardcover)

As the simple story appeals to a wide range of young readers, this little "ditty" is expressing a vital story about generational legacy that even includes a bit of botany. I find it an important book to have in my small "grandmother library." As an Anglo, reading and showing pictures to my Hispanic grandchildren who live in NM, I want them to learn about every angle of our world and especially the simple traditions, old and new of our nation.