The Quilt

by Ann Jonas

A child's new patchwork quilt recalls old memories and provides new adventure at bedtime.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Friendship, Art

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quilt stories are always good, but the story and illustrations are really more about the girl's dream.

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having completely forgotten about this wonderful book from my childhood, I rediscovered it on the shelves today. It still holds up over 20 years later.

[Nicole A · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite childhood stories. I checked it out of the library every other week, as often as I was allowed to when I was about 4-5 years old.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale celebrates getting older and starting to sleep in a big bed. A young girl examines her new bed quilt, reminiscing about the various fabric patches and where they came from.

The story takes a somewhat scary turn as she drifts off to sleep and loses her beloved Sally in a series of different locations, but ends off on a positive note.

The narrative is short, perfect for beginning readers, and the colorful illustrations feature the crazy quilt and a variety of dreamscapes.

After reading this book at a school where I am volunteering, I discovered an open library French edition, L'Edredon, online (with ISBN 221102307X). Just as entertaining en français.

[Patrick Resse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Quilt by Ann Jones, is a wonderful piece of realistic fiction that show a child’s wonder after receiving a nice quilt and the wonderful imagination she exhibits when playing on it. This book is most appropriate for children in kindergarten and first grade and does not have any awards. The young girl receives a quilt from her parents that has a bunch of fabrics from items she used to have in her room and throughout the house. She then puts it on her bed and falls in love with all the pretty colors. She has trouble sleeping as she gets lost in the city of colors. She can’t find her stuffed animal, so she imagines herself in a city surrounded by bright lights looking for her stuffed animal, who she then later finds by the end of the story.
This is a highly imaginative story that stresses the importance and the benefits of being creative. The color palette of the book along with the quilt accurately portrays the sense of imagination present throughout the books narrative. Kids will love this book as it is an easy read but also one that will attract their eye and appeal them to keep reading. This book does not have too much depth in it or any sort of large underlying meaning or lesson, but just serves as a book with the purpose to entertain and attract the reader’s eye, and it certainly does that. One lesson you can do with the kids is have them bring in some sort of item and talk about what that item means, so pretty much a kind of show and tell. Also another sharing activity could arise for a small group share if you have the kids circle around one another and have them share a time they lost something and how it made them feel, compared to how it made the main character feel.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story about a young girl who receives a new quilt to go on her new 'big girl' bed. She describes where her parents got the different material for the different squares and then remarks that it looks kind of like a little town. That night she dreams that she's lost Sally (who I had to go back a few pages to identify as her stuffed puppy) and goes through the fantastical landscape of the quilt to find. A little too ethereal to use in my preschool or toddler story time, but this book would make a great one-on-one read aloud.

[Kyra Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this story would be great for students first learning how to read - the words are a bit simpler, and more of the focus is drawn to the illustrations. That being said, I thought the illustrations were beautiful and really helped capture the girl's imagination. I also liked that the girls was a POC, as there isn't enough variety in children's books and would love to add it to an early childhood classroom.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The simplicity of the text, beautiful illustrations, and meaningful storyline make this book perfect for students just learning how to read. This book adds to the diversity of my library and I love the main character of this book.

[Lauren Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a great read for all ages. Honestly, quilts are not my favorite but after reading this, it made me even want to go buy one! Throughout the story, the main character receives a quilt and spends all night looking through the town that is her new blanket. Her quilt comes to life to her and she searches through the squares for her stuffed dog. It really brings a child's imagination to life and takes the reader on a deep dive into it! I would use this in my classroom when talking about quilts. I would use this story as a read aloud and then have the students create their own quilt to tell a story or a square to add to a class quilt.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl has a new quilt made just for her with fabric from her own outgrown clothing. Her toy dog was also made from something she had worn. Sewn together the pieces remind her of a town and, when she imagines what would be like, it seems as if her dog has gone missing. Nice story and illustrations.

[Caroline]

This book is about how the girl's quilt inspires her imagination. She imagines it as a little town and walks through it. I wish the pictures were more obviously pieces of the quilt, some of them are just random.

[Taylar Sizemore]

Parents make girl a quilt from scrap fabric, when she falls asleep the quilt comes to life and she goes on an adventure "dreamscape" to find her stuffed dog. This book would be good to teach B,M, and E. Suitable for kids in grades k-2.

[Miss Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new quilt! It is made from my old favorite clothes, curtains, and sheets. My quilt looks like a town...Now we (the readers) can imagine each quilt square as different parts of the town while we look for Sally (her stuffed animal). Simple text and fun read out loud.

[Emily McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quilt tells a story by what it is made of.. good for an artifact lesson

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable book about a quilt made from special fabrics. And the dreams that inspires.

[Sarah Limb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a promising beginning but it lost me when it referred to Sally, without explaining who Sally is. I didn’t get it until the end.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found at a children's museum. Love how the quilt held so many memories for the child of their past, and how it inspired so many imaginings in its new quilt form.

[Angie Riddick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read excerpts of this book to some pre schoolers. Brought quilts in to hold their attention. Book was a little wordy in some passages for certain age groups. Overall they enjoyed the book and participated in explaining some if the pictures in the book.

[Sydney Goodjoines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for a read aloud at my local library for African American History Month. Easy read as well as easy understanding for children!

[Tichina Fung-chung]

I'll never forget when a student-teacher in my kindergarten class gave me this book. I used to read it all the time and I loved it so much that I would take picture walks through the book because the pictures were so detailed and inviting. The story is about a little girl who takes the patches in her quilt and brings them to life with her imagination. A great lesson would be to have each student create their own personal quilts after reading the story.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is simple enough that a young child should be able to read it, so this book might work very well in a kindergarten, first grade, or even second grade classroom.

However, I don't really like the pictures, personally. This is a matter of taste, but all the same... I think I'm going to donate this to my niece's school.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning was cute and all nostalgic and made me want to start keeping some of my kids clothes instead of donating them to the DI or handing them down to the next relative in line. And then the story continued...and it morphs into a horrible dream. My three-year-old was looking at the book with confusion. So was I. A good idea but as a whole - not a favorite.

[Monalisa Johnson-brown]

Sally owned a quilt that was big enough to cover her whole body. She had a dog that she liked very much and one day the dog could not find her. He went looking for her outside, at the zoo, circus, and the tunnel and the ocean. He finslly came back home and found her tucked under her blanket.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

quilts - a girl's imaginative adventure on a quilt as her memory is prompted by the different quilt squares

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story shows a quilt with family history and a little girl with a good imagination. The illustrations are nice as well.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl reminisces of times passed as well as imagined adventures all of which are inspired from her new patchwork quilt.

[Mikanchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

このおふとん、パパとママがつくってくれたの。
あたしのおふるをつかってね。

こんなおふとんほしいな、と思った。

自身があまり惹かれなかったので、たぶん読み聞かせでも使わないだろうな。

[Yuzuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

思い出がいっぱいつまったおふとん。つくってみルのもいいかも。

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quaint, heartwarming story with bright illustrations that support the text well. It was really sweet.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

the dreams a child can come up with about her quilt