Tricia's Michigan

Gr 2 Up—Acclaimed children's author Patricia Polacco takes viewers on a field trip to the idyllic small town of Union City, Michigan, which she has called home for 65 years, and whose stories she has shared in almost 50 books in this film by Evan Polivy and Matt Porter. The documentary's executive producer, Betsy Bober Polivy, has known and traveled with Polacco for more than 25 years, and her familiarity with the author gives the film a relaxed feel. As Polacco drives down roads that she walked as a child, she points with pride to the home that her grandfather built. She talks openly and casually as she walks through and around her 150-year-old, 27-room inn, and she introduces her animals. Among the author's amazing collections that reflect her memories and her family's heritage is the quilt that was made for her great-great-grandmother, which became the subject of her multigenerational tale, The Keeping Quilt. We visit the meteor that is resting with her family in a nearby cemetery, which was the inspiration for her first book, Meteor, and the house she bought for Halloween celebrations and as home to The Graves Family (2003). Viewers are also taken to other points of interest such as Hensley's Variety Store, immortalized in Something About Hensley's (2006). As we watch her work on The Junk Yard Wonders (2010, all Philomel), and hear how it reflects her troubled school experiences, we see that all of Polacco's work reflects her home, her family, and her passions. Students will learn details about her life that are not shared elsewhere, and will gain a new appreciation for this outstanding author/illustrator's work.—MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY