Quilted Poetry--Quilting in Children's Literature

The Seldom-Ever-Shady Glades by Sue Van Wassenhove is a book of poetry illustrated with quilts.

 

Wassenhove, Sue Van. The Seldom-Ever-Shady Glades. Wordsong, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-59078-352-8

 

This book of seventeen poems focuses on wildlife (especially birds) in the Florida everglades. The poems are short and a few spreads contain extra information about the subject of the poem. For instance, the poem "The Heron Blues":

 

The great blue is tall

and the little is small.

But the little is blue,

and the great ain't, that's true.

    Would you choose

    the same names?

Beneath  the poem is a short explanation: "The little blue heron is nearly all blue, including its beak.

The great blue heron is mostly gray."

The poems are informative and fun-to-read, but for me, the illustrations are key. Van Wassenhove made quilts depicting the subjects to accompany her poetry. You can read and learn more about her process on her website. The quilts use piecing, applique, and quilting to show the subjects. The borders are based on traditional Seminole patterns still used by Native Americans of the Miccosukee tribe in south Florida. You can learn more about this type of patchwork HERE.

Illustration accompanying the poem "Standoff"

Back cover illustration

 

This is a lovely book--wildlife, poetry, and quilts. What more could you want?

 

Happy Quilting! 😺 

A reminder--you can find my posts on Quilts in Children's Literature by clicking "Children's Literature" in the list of labels on the right-hand pane of this blog.

NOTE: I found my books used from BetterWorldBooks.com. I can highly recommend this site. Not only do they always have free shipping, but they also contribute a book to someone in need for every book you buy. I was not compensated for this recommendation--I just love doing business with them.