salmonread's review
2020 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge #18 - Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
emilyhathcock's review
5.0
“Quilting is painting a poem with fabric.”
As a hobby quilter, I loved this book. What a wonderful way to tell the story of a community and it’s history. A must read for quilters and family members of quilters alike. Highly recommend!
As a hobby quilter, I loved this book. What a wonderful way to tell the story of a community and it’s history. A must read for quilters and family members of quilters alike. Highly recommend!
jshettel's review
4.0
This is a beautiful picture-book-in-verse about the Gee's Bend quilter. Fascinating!
azuki's review
5.0
This beautiful collection of vignettes (written by veteran children's author Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by the incomparable Cozbi A. Cabrera) describes the lives, work, and art of Gee's Bend quilting artists.
The stories McKissack conveys through her verses are moving. I especially like:
* "Remembering", which begins: "Mam told me, / 'Cloth has a memory'..." and tells the story of each scrap of cloth that transforms the young narrator's first quilt.
* "The Sewing Bee", brought to life by mixed media images. This vignette describes how some Gee's Bend quilters held on to their artistic freedom, despite the necessity of surviving under capitalism.
The only thing I don't like about this book is the introduction by Matt Arnett, the son of a white art collector who (along with Matt and his brother) have been made famous for "discovering" and "sharing" Gee's Bend quilters' art with the world. The Arnetts were named in a lawsuit by three Gee's Bend quilters. According to a 2007 news article by the Chicago Tribune:
"Complainants say the Arnett family, who first brought the Gee's Bend quilts to prominence, have not fairly compensated the artists -- or their descendants -- for quilts that sell for up to $25,000 and the copyrights to duplicate them in books, rugs and other merchandise.
This month, two of the quilters whose works appear in the Walters show, Annie Mae Young and Loretta Pettway, charged in a federal lawsuit that William Arnett, his sons and others defrauded them of potentially thousands of dollars in proceeds from quilt sales and royalties from licensing agreements. In another suit, Lucinda Pettway Franklin charged that in 2005 the Arnetts took two 100-year-old quilts sewn by her great-grandmother, a former slave, and refused to return them despite repeated requests."
The stories McKissack conveys through her verses are moving. I especially like:
* "Remembering", which begins: "Mam told me, / 'Cloth has a memory'..." and tells the story of each scrap of cloth that transforms the young narrator's first quilt.
* "The Sewing Bee", brought to life by mixed media images. This vignette describes how some Gee's Bend quilters held on to their artistic freedom, despite the necessity of surviving under capitalism.
The only thing I don't like about this book is the introduction by Matt Arnett, the son of a white art collector who (along with Matt and his brother) have been made famous for "discovering" and "sharing" Gee's Bend quilters' art with the world. The Arnetts were named in a lawsuit by three Gee's Bend quilters. According to a 2007 news article by the Chicago Tribune:
"Complainants say the Arnett family, who first brought the Gee's Bend quilts to prominence, have not fairly compensated the artists -- or their descendants -- for quilts that sell for up to $25,000 and the copyrights to duplicate them in books, rugs and other merchandise.
This month, two of the quilters whose works appear in the Walters show, Annie Mae Young and Loretta Pettway, charged in a federal lawsuit that William Arnett, his sons and others defrauded them of potentially thousands of dollars in proceeds from quilt sales and royalties from licensing agreements. In another suit, Lucinda Pettway Franklin charged that in 2005 the Arnetts took two 100-year-old quilts sewn by her great-grandmother, a former slave, and refused to return them despite repeated requests."
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