Oma's Quilt

The time has come for Emily's grandmother to move. But it's hard to leave her house on Maple Street, filled as it is with a lifetime of cherished memories. At the retirement home, Oma complains about everything, from flowers in the hallway to crooked bowling lanes! Emily wants to see Oma happy again, but she doesn't know what to do. At home, Emily and her mother begin to sort through Oma's possessions. They find ribbons, lace, curtains and blankets. Surrounded by the faded fabrics, Emily now knows the perfect way to keep Oma's memories by her side -- by stitching a one-of-a-kind patchwork quilt! Spirited illustrations enhance this uplifting story about lives in transition and the threads of memory that hold them together.

With spare but spirited text, Bourgeois deftly defines three generations of women, each distinct in voice and circumstance.

The difficult transition from family home to retirement community is poignantly rendered in this cross-generational tale told from a child’s viewpoint “

With spare but spirited text, Bourgeois deftly defines three generations of women, each distinct in voice and circumstance.

Oma’s Quilt includes the elements of warmth, comfort, and continuity traditional to a quilt story. However, Bourgeois also adds a couple of twists. This quilt, rather than being the gift of a gentle grandmother to her granddaughter, is a gentle granddaughter’s gift to an Oma cranky enough to dismiss her fellow retirees as nincompoops. Using mixed media, illustrator Stephane Jorisch partners effectively with Bourgeois. His colouful, cartoon-tinged illustrations balance cleverness and sensitivity. Oma’s Quilt tackles the themes of attachment, change, resistance, love, and adjustment. While adults are likely to find the ending simplistic, it will satisfy young children.

The difficult transition from family home to retirement community is poignantly rendered in this cross-generational tale told from a child’s viewpoint “

Oma’s Quilt includes the elements of warmth, comfort, and continuity traditional to a quilt story. However, Bourgeois also adds a couple of twists. This quilt, rather than being the gift of a gentle grandmother to her granddaughter, is a gentle granddaughter’s gift to an Oma cranky enough to dismiss her fellow retirees as nincompoops. Using mixed media, illustrator Stephane Jorisch partners effectively with Bourgeois. His colouful, cartoon-tinged illustrations balance cleverness and sensitivity. Oma’s Quilt tackles the themes of attachment, change, resistance, love, and adjustment. While adults are likely to find the ending simplistic, it will satisfy young children.