The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy

Flournoy, Valerie, and Jerry Pinkney. The Patchwork Quilt. New York: Dial, 1985.

I have read this book over and over again since I was in third grade learning how to patch a quilt all my by myself. This book never ceases to amaze me and every time I finish reading this book I am just astounded by how powerful it is. Flournoy does a great job showing the connection between a little girl and a grandmother. Tanya, the little girl in this story, loved to talk to her grandmother about the patchwork quilt that she had been piecing together. There are patches from all different things such as a Halloween costume, part of a Christmas dress, and an old pair of pants. One day, Tanya’s grandmother gets sick and does not know how to take care of her and help her through her illness. She then decides to finish the quilt with her mother. As Tanya’s grandmother becomes better, Tanya surprises her with this quilt in which she had worked so hard on. The bond between a grandmother and her granddaughter is amazingly portrayed all through out this book. Flournoy did a great job expressing the feelings and emotions during this book. Since the third grade, I have found this book very inspirational and every time I read it I want to go out and make my own quilt for my grandmother.

After careful research about this book, I couldn’t find if the author was an insider or outsider to this topic and book. The reason I kept this book in the good books about teaching about ageism is because I feel that Flournoy had a great perception about ageism within the bond of a grandmother and her granddaughter. We, as the readers get the sense that the grandmother is aging when she gets sick and has to stay in bed. I know when I was little; I just focused on the little girl and the quilt and not about the grandmother. I think this book illustrates the grandmother as well and how she is a major part of this story; for without the grandmother, there would be no quilt to finish. These are the things in which need to be spoken about in classroom settings, this is why little children just pass over the facts about ageism. With this book, students can be taught about ageism and how it is important through the writing and illustrations in The Patchwork Quilt.

(This book has no page numbers)