Laurent Linn Gives Us The Scoop on Patricia Polacco's 25th Anniversary Edition of "The Keeping Quilt"

The Keeping Quilt, 25th Anniversary Edition by Patricia Polacco

“We will make a quilt to help us always remember home,” Anna’s mother said. “It will be like having the family in backhome Russia dance around us at night.”

And so it was. From a basket of old clothes, Anna’s babushka, Uncle Vladimir’s shirt, Aunt Havalah’s nightdress, and an apron of Aunt Natasha’s become The Keeping Quilt, passed along from mother to daughter for almost a century. For four generations the quilt is a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding canopy, and a blanket that welcomes babies warmly into the world.

In strongly moving pictures that are as heartwarming as they are real, Patricia Polacco tells the story of her own family and the quilt’s further story that remains a symbol of their enduring love and faith. This anniversary edition includes fifteen pages of original material describing the quilt’s journey and its home at the Mazza Museum in Findley, Ohio.

As part of the quilt's -- and her family's -- history, Patricia has two children who marry under a canopy formed by the quilt. One, a son who marries a woman. And the other, a daughter who marries a woman. It's a moment of inclusion that's woven in beautifully, and makes this absolutely a picture book I wish had been read to me when I was a little kid.

My thanks to Patricia for creating (and updating) and sharing this book with the world, and to Laurent Linn, Art Director at Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers and Paula Wiseman Books, for letting me know about it.