Pistes d'exploration

Discuss some traditional crafts that are carried on through generations in small communities. Tante Marie was an important member of the community. Who do you know like her? 

Write about a craft or hobby you enjoy. Who taught you how to do it? Why did you start? Explain how to do it. Present your writing to the class.

In your journal, write how you would feel about going to live with a relative for awhile. Which relative(s) would you want to go with and why? How would you manage if you got homesick?

Talk about a situation where you might go to live with a relative for a little while. How might that feel?

Talk about a leisure time project that you enjoy. Think of a rhyme that will explain the technique you must use, like Tante Marie’s rug-hooking rhyme. Write about and illustrate it.

Talk about Tante Marie’s contribution to her family and her village. Choose a person from your community and write and present a short text about their contribution(s).

The Keeping Quilt, Miss Rumphius, Gifts, TheQuiltmaker's Gift, Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin, Wild Berries, Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed

Mots-clés

Picture book , aunts , families , homesick , loneliness , Nova Scotia , traditions

Commentaire descriptif

In Chéticamp the women hook rugs, and if you do it well, “a little piece of your heart is tucked in there with the wool.” One of them is Tante Marie (or “Ma Tante”), an old woman who lives alone in her big house. When a long lost niece requests that Ma Tante take in her daughter, Claire, for the summer so she can get a job in a fish-packing plant, the old woman is delighted at the prospect of having some company. But Claire is a sad little girl who keeps her distance from people and cries herself to sleep at night. That is, until she discovers Ma Tante's beautiful handiwork and welcomes a lesson on how to “give the wool a little tug with the hook to make the rug.” By the end of the summer, when it's time to say goodbye, Claire and Ma Tante have become fast friends. Punctuated here and there with French words and phrases, this is lyrical storytelling at its best: a tale rich with imagery alongside oil paintings that combine a naive, folk style with fine detail that captures the authenticity of the maritime setting.