Pistes d'exploration

Interview a family member or close friend about any traditions that took place during their wedding ceremony. Share these interviews with the class, adding photos if possible. 

Define the word tradition. Does your family have any traditions? Write about one of them in detail. Share your story with a peer. Do you have any traditions in common?

Trace your genealogy and present your family tree to the class. Do you have a family member who had a particularly interesting life or experience? Share his or her story with the class.

Research the Jewish traditions mentioned in the story (Sabbath, challah, kulich, etc.).

Discuss what the lucky symbols in the story represent. What other lucky symbols can you identify? Why is the quilt so important?

Create a timeline showing who receives the quilt through the generations.

Interview a family member about a tradition or family treasure. Bring a photo of the object to show classmates. 

Claire's Gift, Something From Nothing, TheQuiltmaker's Gift, My Grandfather's Coat, Tar Beach

Mots-clés

Picture book , family history , heirlooms , immigration , intergenerational relationships , Jewish culture , memories , traditions

Commentaire descriptif

This evocative picture book portrays both continuity and change. Young readers follow the history of an heirloom—a handmade quilt, created with a family’s old clothes from “backhome Russia.” Great-grandmother helps Patricia’s mother sew it, soon after arriving in America. Each generation’s changing customs are described through the adventures of the quilt, which is used as a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding huppa and to hold new family members: “The quilt welcomed me, Patricia, into the world . . . .” Expressive detailed pencil drawings provide young readers with a visual history of family life. In every image, the quilt’s patterns pop with bright colours. When the quilt is meticulously reproduced, children may compare this new scene of present-day quilters, who research fabrics online, with the original quilting bee. The book ends in a crowded museum hall, where the old quilt is preserved so that future generations may continue to learn from it and enjoy its beauty. Meanwhile the author, now a grandmother, wraps a new baby in the hand-stitched reproduction of her favourite family quilt.