The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee's Story

by Pegi Deitz Shea, Anita Riggio (Illustrator)

Mai spends her days at the Widows' Store, listening to the Hmong women as they stitch and talk, stitch and talk. They are making pa'ndau---brightly colored story cloths--which they sell to the traders from Chiang Khan. Mai wishes she, too, could make one of the beautiful pa'ndau, but what story could she tell? This moving and poignant tale depicts life in a refugee camp in Thailand. Mai lives there with her grandmother, who helps her as she struggles to perfect her stitchery. Only by going back into her own brief and tragic past can she find a story to tell--one of hope and faith in the midst of war and confinement. Anita Riggio has rendered lush and sensitive watercolors that frame the story. You Yang, a Hmong immigrant, has stitched the pa'ndau that tell Mai's tale.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Childrens, Family, War, Cultural, International

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful picturebook about a young Hmong girl in a refugee camp in Thailand who stitches the story of her parents' loss into her storycloth. It was unusual for Hmong needlewomen to keep their own work but it was not unheard of. The story is otherwise amazingly accurate, down to the last detail.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book about the Hmong refugee experience, told through the making of a pa'ndau, the beautiful embroidered story cloth that Hmong women often make. I want our daughters to read about the refugee experience, considering there are so many people living as refugees in the world today.

[Sarah Rosati · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee's Story' is an immensely powerful representation of a Hmong family living in the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand. The protagonist lives with her grandmother, and she learns to access her past through art as she embroiders representations of events in her past. Mai's parents were both killed by soldiers during the night, and upon being rescued by her grandmother she was able to enjoy life in a comfortable house and experience snow and fond memories swimming in the ocean prior to being transported to the refugee camp. Mai recounts these memories, both pleasant and painful, in her stitching and despite the horrors of her past, the young girl reaches a point of catharsis in her art and the story manages to conclude on a resolutely optimistic note. This story is effective in representing families that have been devastated by tragedy, and in touching upon the death of a parent it serves as a resource for children who have endured unimaginable grief. It is a multicultural resource in its depiction of an Asian family, and is sensitive yet accurate in its portrayal of their heritage. The story also helps to validate the experiences of children who are not originally from the United States, as the illustrations convey landscapes and countrysides very different from our own. The illustrations are both in watercolor and in screen-printed images of embroidered scenes, which soften the blow of the story's events given the delicate nature of stitching.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good part of this story to read aloud would be on pages 15-18. The pages describe Mai's life in a refugee camp. She describes how her grandmother and she had to leave the village and were brought to a crowded fenced in place where she worked on various tasks and received little food. Children get a toned down version of what life would be like growing up in a refugee camp. This story can be connected to art about the Pa'ndau storycloths which tell of history, religion, lifestyles, and folktales.

[Sarah]

Publication Date: September 1st 1996

Annotation: A young girl named Mai is living in a Thai refugee camp in the 70s. She spends her time listening to women talk and stitch together a pa'ndau, a story blanket. Mai must deal with her tragic past in order to tell her story and create her own pa'ndau.

Themes: Character and Values

Ways to Use: Students can make their own pa'ndau's using construction paper and share with their classmates. This story could be used in a history unit looking at refugee camps.

[Margherita · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book I had the opportunity to read in a teachiing social studies class. I feel this book is a great example to show children and expose them to different cultures outside their norm. the little girl and her grandma are so cute and loving. the book shows good history through the Hmong culture and what the people had to go through in the refugee camps. I would use this story in my future classroom one day and I would recommend this book to anyone.

[Vanessa Holzknecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a very young girl who lives in a refugee camp with her grandmother. It shows art that is valued in this culture as well as what it was like in the refugee camp. The main character tells her story through sewing and I feel that kids would benefit from this story. There are many kids coming from other countries and from refugee camps and this book may help students better understand what they are going through.

[Michael Enright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Whispering Cloth tells the story of a young refugee from Laos who is living in a refugee camp in Thailand. She is living with her Grandmother in the camp to escape her war torn country and hopes to one day leave and travel to America. The little girl makes pa'ndau with her Grandmother, which is a stitched cloth that tells a story and the girl makes her own cloth which tells her story and what she hopes becomes of her life.

The Whispering Cloth is a very touching story that can be used to show students what it is like for children living in refugee camps around the world. The story can also be used to share some of the culture of the people of Laos.

One text that I would pari with this text would be Four Feet, Two Sandals and this is because the texts could be used to educate students about refugees. This allows students to make a connection between the stories told in these two texts and the refugees that are currently living around the world trying to escape the war torn Middle East.

"The pa'ndau tells me it is not for sale."

[Addison Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Mai who spent most of her time in a refugee camp watching her grandmother and the other women create beautiful pa’ndau, or story cloths. Eventually, her grandmother teaches her how to stitch, and Mai spent many weeks practicing. At first, her grandmother would design patterns for Mai to stitch but as Mai continued to make progress, she was creating her own designs. It is clear that Mai is very skilled when it comes to making story cloths. So much so that people are willing to pay even more for the work that Mai has done. Seeing how much people loved her work, Mai decided that it was time for her to make an entire pa’ndau on her own. And so she had to think of a story that would be told on her pa’ndau. Soon, Mai had created a beautiful work of art that told the story of her life, and also the life that she longed for in America.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“All Mai could remember was life inside the refugee camp, where everyone seem to come and go but her.”

Mai learns from her grandmother and the other women in the refugee camp how to stitch the Pa’ndau (pah NOW), a cloth which tells a story. These cloths are sold to the traders. One day, Mai hopes that they will have enough money to leave the camp for good. “Keep stitching ... and we’ll fly from this camp before the rabbit breeds again.”

Mai wants to make her own cloth rather than working on someone else’s, but she needs her own story first. What story will she stitch into her cloth? She thinks about how she ended up at the refugee camp and begins to stitch her story. But will it be complete? Will it have a good ending?

[Billy Noecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a young Hmong girl in a refugee camp in Thailand after the Vietnam War. Many of these people had no homeland as they were against the Communist regimes and had taken up arms and fought along side the Americans during this conflict. Many move around until a country will take them in. Others are repatriated into their old country, but seen as traitors . Some children may never know a freedom. This story depicts one childs story of her time in the refugee camp and the story of her life.

[Charity Dušíková · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love a book about making. This book uses the craft of embroidery to tell the story of a family's experience as refugees of war. The embroidered illustrations make the scenes of war less graphic while not shirking the theme. This book would be a good introduction to the experience of refugees for mid-elementary students. I read it to my 5 year old, but did paraphrase a couple parts to make it at her level.

[Natalie Prohaska]

The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee's Story is a book about a little girl who lives in a refugee camp because her family died. This book teaches kids about what goes on around the world and how some kids don't get to live with their families because they live in another country.

[Breyanna Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl in a Thai refugee camp in the mid-1970s finds the story within herself to create her own pa'ndau.

[Tara Dryml]

This story is about a young Hmong girl who tells about her cloth-making story as a refugee inside of camp which she was forced into after being displaced.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red 2nd

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story about a Hmong girl in a refugee camp who stitches her first story cloth, about her young life. I like that it is a story cloth book from a young girl's perspective.

[Kristen Herzog · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee's Story by Pegi Deitz Shea is a story about Mai who is a Hmong refugee. The Hmong people in this story are people without a homeland. Mai's parents have been killed in war and her grandmother rescues her and brings her to Ban Vinai which is a refugee camp near Chiang Khan, Thailand. Mai is lonely because her cousins have had the opportunity to move to the United States but her grandmother and her do not have enough money yet to leave. Her grandmother makes a living by sewing story cloths that are sold when the traders come. Mai decides that she wants to learn how to make these story cloths and so her grandmother teaches her. Soon Mai is very good at sewing these clothes and she wants to make her own story cloth. Her grandmother says that she needs to be able to tell a story so that she can sew her cloth. Mai thinks and thinks and decides to tell the story of her life and is determined to sell it for enough money so that her grandmother and her can move to the United States. In the end Mai decides that her cloth can't be sold because it is not for sale. The illustrations in this book are fantastic and it is a good story to share about what happens to innocent people during times of war.

[Rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so sad and so lovely and just truly inspiring. I want so badly to just reach through the pages of the book and hold Mai and shield her from the horrors of her short life. I would love to have some of the stitch work to show children reading this story. I think it would be a great way to discuss difficult times that children do go through and and some ways to overcome.

[Emily Rosbottom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the forward and glossary in this book. It gives a background of why the characters are considered refugees. I really like that part of the story is the stitching of the little girl character. I also like that Chinese words are dispersed throughout the story to remind the reader where the story came from.

[Marilea Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read, and the stitching was amazing! I would use this with students to introduce some of the Asian culture to the class. It would be used as a read aloud and could be compared and contrasted to similar stories from other cultures. I would also keep this in the classroom library to help ensure that there is a diverse selection of books.

[Zoraida Rivera Morales]

This book speaks of life as a a refugee, but also of dreams, family, traditions and healing pain through the art of pa'ndau. It talks of a difficult reality, but also of hope. Definitely, a book with heart.

[Frances H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a touching story of Mai's life before and in the refugee camp. She learns to stitch her story in the pa'ndau and decides that she cannot part with her story cloth.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hmong girl creates in embroidery on cloth the story of how she came to be in a refugee camp with her grandmother. I would love to see an exhibit of some of these works of art. Beautiful!

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating original Hmong embrodiery

[Lara Yener · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book, not that emotional, so it is actually fun. It takes, like, 5 minutes to read it.

[Caitlin Bonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes a glossary, foreward, and the story of a hmong girl in a refugee camp. It is about Mai making her first pa'ndau and stitching the story of her life as she dreams of fleeing to America.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book about the Hmong people. Includes artwork done in stitchwork. Can help refugee children talk about their experience through art.

[Beth Schencker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl in a Thai refugee camp finds the story within herself to create her own pa'ndau.

[Madeline Wakem · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl who learns one of her family's tradition and finds a different meaning behind the artwork they make than what she originally thought.