The Tortilla Quilt

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Bilingual Learning
Review: I have seen Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli read the Tortilla Quilt toelementary school children and they love her and the book. She hasothers: The Tamale Quilt, and the newest, The Pinata Quilt.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely quilt story that includes a pattern for the quilt.
Review: The Tortilla Quilt is a well told story of how a little girl came to make a quilt. She not only learned the mechanics of quilt making, but found out why quilts are so special as she and her friend cut pieces of fabric from the dresses they had outgrown. She loved the quilt so much when it was done, that she wanted to share that love with her grandmother and gave her the quilt as a gift. Through her generosity she learned that a quilt can bring you even more joy when you share it.

The folk-art illustrations by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli are as delightful as her quilting. At the end of the book there is a recipe for her grandmother's tortillas and a pattern for the nine-piece quilt that appeared in the story. Also, scattered throughout the story are Spanish interpretations - not for the whole story, but for random words.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully illustrated book with a great hands on story.
Review: The Tortilla Quilt is a wonderful story about a young girl and her dream to make a quilt like her best friend. Her grandmother helps her dream come true by providing feed sacks to start the quilt. Then her best friend helps by getting more fabric from their old outgrown dresses. Many of us can relate to this story because we grew up in families where our mothers or grandmothers made quilts from our outgrown clothes. I know as a little girl my first dream of sewing was making a quilt. I would cut rectangles from every red and black piece of fabric I could get my hands on. The smell of food cooking was also a big part of our lives. I was raised in cold Minneasota and our lives were much the same as Mariah's. I loved the way the story had the girls working together plus getting the cooperation from the mother and grandmother. The special time spent working on the quilt while on the quilt frame was especially heartwarming. The story makes you want to make a quilt with your child or grandchild so you can have that special time with them now. You also hope that they too will want to hand the quilt down to future generations and share the story of the time when the two of you made the quilt. Great way to get back to family time and values. This book is a great learning tool as the quilt instructions are very easy to follow. You don't have to know how to sew to make this quilt. I found that boys really get into making this quilt. It is fun to see someone with such artistic talent put it all together and be successful with such a wonderful book. We need more stories like this not only to read to our children and grandchildren but also to do a project with them such as the quilt or making tortillas.