| The Quilt | 
 enlarge | Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Yearling
Category: Book
List Price: $5.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 777044
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.4
ISBN: 0440229367
EAN: 9780440229360
ASIN: 0440229367
Publication Date: October 11, 2005
Release Date: October 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
1944. Wartime.
A six-year-old boy goes to spend the summer with his grandmother Alida in a small town near the Canadian border. With the men all gone off to fight, the women are left to run the farms. There?s plenty for the boy to do?trying to help with the chores, getting to know the dog, and the horses, cows, pigs, and chickens.
But when his cousin Kristina goes into labor, he can?t do a thing. Instead, the house fills with women come to help and to wait, and to work on a quilt together. This is no common, everyday quilt, but one that contains all the stories of the boy?s family. The quilt tells the truth, past and future: of happiness, courage, and pain; of the greatest joy, and the greatest loss. And as they wait, the women share these memorable stories with the boy.
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
A companion to Alida? s Song and The Cookcamp, Gary Paulsen's The Quilt spends another summer with "the boy" and his grandmother, Alida. World War II is being fought in Europe, and the boy?s mother, working in a munitions factory in Chicago, sends her six-year-old son to stay with his grandmother in Minnesota. When Alida?s neighbor Kristina goes into labor, Alida packs up the boy and goes to Kristina?s farm to help. Mystified, the boy watches as other women arrive, water is boiled, and a quilt is brought out. Now it?s time to listen, as the quilt--through the women--tells its stories about family, love, loss, and strength. As in Paulsen?s many other semi-autobiographical stories for young readers (the Brian books, Guts, etc.), the author?s voice is never far beneath the surface. His bitterness towards his own mother, for example (as revealed in the foreword), comes across in lines like this: "Soon, though, other people--men--came to visit her and she started to do very grown-up things. He did not fit in, and when life with his mother became too difficult, he went to live with his grandmother." Although this presence may be irritating to some readers, the details of a remembered time on a farm with wonderfully strong women should appeal to all. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Quilt May 12, 2007
Once again, Gary Paulsen, has shared a window into his heart and soul with this beautifully written book. Mr. Paulsen draws the reader into the child's memories of life, death, and the bond of family.
The Quilt September 12, 2006
Gary Paulson has a winner with his book The Quilt. As with The Cookcamp and Alida's Song he tells the story of one of his summers with his grandmother Alida.
It is the middle of the Second World War and all the men are off fighting. He and his grandmother end up on a farm with Kristina, a family member our little six-year-old has never met before. While on the farm he is introduced to several family members he has never heard of. Each story is told in The Quilt that is brought to the farm.
This book would be great for teaching students what life was like during a time of war and hardship. It would also be an excellent resource for teaching students the art of quilting or how to make a story quilt.
 My review on the Quilt!!! April 28, 2005
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really didn't care for this book a whole lot. I would rate this book a 6. The part in the book I didn't like the most was when the boy and his grandma went to Kristina's farm. The part I liked the most was when they got a ride to Kristina's farm.When Elmer gave them a ride, the boy had to sit on poop. It was funny. I chose this book because it looked interesting. Well, if you decide to read this book, I hope you like it. Thanks for reading my review!!!!
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A wonderful, moving little book about growing up. July 7, 2004
"My grandmother shines so in my life, made things so wonderful for me when I was a small boy and, later, when I became a man, that I simply had to write more about her."As Gary Paulsen's sweet story of remembrance opens, he is six years old, World War II has taken over his parents' lives (his father is a soldier, his mother is working in a munitions factory in Chicago) and he has been sent to live with his grandmother in Minnesota. The pace of the life there has a quiet peace that brings happiness to him. Despite missing his mother, he soon settles into the quiet but busy life that the small community offers. His grandmother, Alida, is really what is most important to him, and it is she who counsels, loves and is the female force in his young life. During his stay with her, they go to his cousin Kristina's home, as she is ready to give birth. She and the other women who gather to help in this event weave a magic spell as he listens to their voices and watches as they work together. After the baby is born and the lovely quilt is brought out, he is aware of something most special happening. It is then that he hears all the family stories of the quilt, and he observes: "The room grew quiet, breathlessly silent, so the boy could hear Kristina breathing as she slept upstairs, and he looked at the women's hands holding the edges of the quilt and none of them gripped hard but seemed instead to almost caress the cloth and he knew that he was seeing a sweet thing, a dear thing, like when his mother's face was there looking down on him as he awakened from a nap, or when his grandmother looked at him when she held him." This is not a book with great adventure, but is rather reflective and gentle in tone. Sometimes "the boy" seems more mature in his observations than most six-year-olds. Because of his life and the times, however, it all seems more plausible. While this is considered a companion to THE COOKCAMP and ALIDA'S SONG, it is not necessary to read them to enjoy and understand the characters or story in THE QUILT. While younger readers (ages 8-12) can read this book with ease, the themes will probably find more appeal for teens and most definitely for adults. Paulsen has written a wonderful, moving little book about growing up. (...)
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