Handkerchief Quilt

by Carol Crane, Gary Palmer (Illustrator)

Overview

For many years, Monday through Friday, Miss Anderson has walked to Parkland School, eager to begin her day's work in her classroom. She is a devoted teacher, beloved by the many children she has taught over the years. Theschool and her students mean everything to her. After one holiday weekend, Parkland School suffers a devastating flood. Burst pipes send water pouring into classrooms and the library. The school must close for repairs. But it's not just the building that has been damaged. New supplies and materials, especially books, are needed. But there isn't enough money to do it all. Miss Anderson cannot bear to think of her beloved school closed and her students left without materials. What can she do to help? And when the answer comes to her, Miss Anderson knows what to do and whom to ask for assistance. Carol Crane has written 14 books for Sleeping Bear Press, including the bestselling P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet. As a children's literature advocate, Carol travels across the country, speaking at schools and many conferences. She makes her home in North Carolina. Gary Palmer has been a freelance illustrator for over 30 years. A graduate of the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, Gary now works from his home studio in Charlotte, North Carolina. Gary's books with Sleeping Bear Press include H is for Hook: A Fishing Alphabet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781133484608
Publisher:	Sleeping Bear Press
Publication date:	03/04/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

Editorial Reviews

When frozen water pipes break, flooding the school, longtime elementary teacher Miss Anderson rallies students and their families to make a quilt from handkerchiefs she's collected, gifts from those she's taught over the years. The quilt is sold for money to replace lost books and supplies. Crane, author of numerous alphabet and counting books, has based her first published fiction on an incident from her mother's life. She recounts events journalistically, chronologically and with little effort to provide tension for the narrative arc or to develop character. Although the time and place aren't identified in the story, the afterword sets it in Flint, Mich., in the early 1950s. Palmer's watercolor-and-pencil illustrations reflect the times, both in the clothing and in the classroom Thanksgiving artwork, which includes a Native American wearing a Plains Indian headdress, which will make some modern readers cringe. The people appear stiff and distant; they look away from the reader. Although the story has emotional potential, it isn't been realized in this telling. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews