Book of the Week
MOST LOVED IN ALL THE WORLD by Tonya Cherie Hegamin illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera Houghton Mifflin unp. Add this to your collection of picture books about the underground railroad. Hegamin tells this story in four-line stanzas from the point of view of a young girl who observes her mother. Her mother works in the field so that her hands bleed, but evenings she is sewing a new quilt. The young girl watches the different pictures her mother creates for the quilt, a log cabin, a star, a brown tree with green on one side, a little girl. The day her mother returned home with whip marks on her back, she cut a heart from the torn shirt she'd worn. As the little girl asks her mother about each picture, the reader realizes that these are marks for those traveling the underground railroad. Her mother describes the little girl she made as "the most loved in the whole world." The story culminates in the middle of the night when her Mother takes the little girl to a clearing in the woods to folks who will guide the child to freedom. As her Mother tearfully hands her child to the others, she reminds the girl of all the quilt symbols. The log cabin means a safe haven, the brightest star is to follow, the moss on the tree helps with direction, and the little girl figure on the quilt means she is the most loved in all the world. In a long note at the end the author spoke of the painful decision some slaves made to send their children on to freedom before them. She also acknowledges the controversy over the use of quilts in the Underground Railroad, but chose to use quilting as a device in her story rather than a historical fact. The illustrator is able to capture the somber but hopeful message of the book in her paintings. The inside covers and the first and last pages reflect fabric and quilt squares, integral to the story. This is a lovely addition to your collection by a new author who grew up in nearby West Chester, PA. Other 2009 picture books about slavery: JANUARY'S SPARROW by Patricia Polacco (Philomel) I WANT TO BE FREE by Joseph Slate (Putnam) |
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