Pistes d'exploration

Name something you have loved as much as Joseph loved his blanket. Why did you love it? How did it make you feel?

Discuss the characteristics of folktales. List other folktales you know. What is the moral of this story?

Follow the parallel story of the mice. How did they find the pieces of cloth? Compare the two stories.

Look closely at the illustrations. Can you detect images from Phoebe Gilman’s other books? 

Interview a grandparent or someone older than your parents. Find out about their lives. Share your interview with the class.

Retell the story by joining in with the recurrent sections.

In small groups, retell the story by using a timeline graphic organizer.

Discuss how we can transform objects to give them a new life (e.g. a pair of jeans becomes shorts or a pencil case; a pop bottle becomes a bird feeder). 

Create a mini-book, using the text structure as a model, featuring an object you could transform in three different ways. Imitate some of the repetitive language patterns from the text.

The Keeping Quilt, Mr. King's Things, TheQuiltmaker's Gift, My Grandfather's Coat, Faith: Five Religions and What They Share, Mr. Frank

Mots-clés

Folklore , families , grandfathers , Jewish folktales , recurrent patterns , resourcefulness , sewing , story within a story

Commentaire descriptif

As Joseph grows older, the beloved baby blanket his grandfather made for him undergoes several transformations. It becomes a jacket, a vest, a tie, a handkerchief and finally, a button. When the button gets lost, Joseph discovers that it’s not a particular item of clothing that matters, rather the stories and memories associated with it. Adapted from a Yiddish folktale, this favourite story has become a modern classic. The use of subtle rhyme and repetitive phrases, such as the refrains of “Grandpa can fix it” and “his needle flew in and out and in and out” will entice listeners to join in the telling of the story. Perceptive readers will notice a parallel story running at the bottom of each richly detailed painting. A resourceful family of mice are living beneath the floorboards, busily collecting the discarded fabric scraps to make clothes and bedding for themselves. Further exploration of folklore and cultural traditions can be encouraged via the illustrations, where much can be learned about Jewish culture. Additional discussion could also be sparked around the advantages of being resourceful, or readers might also be inspired to find new purposes for favourite old things.