Abuela's Weave

Abuela's Weave
written by Omar S. Castaneda
illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez

Suggested ages: 4-8 years
Country/Region: Guatemala
Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc., NY

Picture a fairly idyllic setting with a thatched hut, some pheasants and chickens pecking about by the thatch, some large trees, rolling lush mounds, some farmers hard at work in the background, a butterfly or two flitting about, while a grandmother gently yet firmly urges her granddaughter to "Pull back hard... Make it jolt, so the thread stays close, like family."

She is kneeling in front of a backstrap loom willingly passing on her weaving acumen to her granddaughter, Esperanza.

Grandma (Abuela, in Spanish) is nervous about selling her hand-made, one-of-a-kind huipiles (blouses), tablecoths, skirts and tapestries at the Fiesta de Pueblos in Guate, especially when mass-produced machine-made goods were attracting the shoppers with their low price.

Head on over to CROCUS 2009 at Saffron Tree to read the rest of this review...