Mooshka

PreS-Gr 2—Karla has the most beautiful quilt shaped from a variety of patches that have been added to it over the years. Each piece tells a story, and the child hears the stories as she touches each one. Later, Karla's baby sister, Hannah, arrives and the house is turned upside down with the demands of a new baby. Her crib is placed in Karla's room and the infant's cries upset the older child terribly. She reaches for the quilt but no longer finds it comforting, and she can no longer hear the stories it holds. It is only when she gives the quilt to Hannah that the crying stops. Karla eagerly assumes the role of big sister and begins sharing the stories from the quilt with her sibling. While the story is a bit heavy-handed and contrived, the artwork shines. Paschkis's true gift is her art, and the folkloric quilt that graces the endpapers and continues throughout is as charming and warm as a quilt can be. The ink and gouache illustrations are quintessentially Paschkis and are worth the read just to look at the pictures. Other quilt books with more cohesive story lines are Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt (S & S, 1988) and Valerie Flournoy's The Patchwork Quilt (Dial, 1995).—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA