Mother Earth and her Children: A Quilted Fairy Tale
By Sibylle Von Olfers

I’m not a quilter. I don’t get excited about quilts. I would never, ever, EVER go to a quilt show. But I sure can appreciate the skill and work that goes into making a quilt. And this is half the reason this book is pretty cool – the illustrations are close-ups of an actual, incredibly detailed quilts. The other reason is why the illustrator worked on this 2007 book in the first place. This story is translated from the German tale first published in 1906. The author wrote this poem, originally named Something About the Root Children, while she was a member of the Catholic order of the sister of Holy Elizabeth. The illustrator, Sieglinde Schoen Smith, created the central quilt upon which this poem unfolds in response to the untimely death of her young son. The quilt, shown in its entirety at the end of the book, graphically depicts the entire poem. Each page spread shows just a small part of the quilt, as a photograph. I keep looking at each page, fascinated by the detail of the quilt and amazed that someone in this world had that much patience to complete it. In addition to the what-I-can-only-imagine intricate stitching, she uses much color representation. The whole scene is split almost horizontally showing underground and above. The children undergoing spring awakening are in bold, bright colors; those still underground are in browns and grays.  Details continue as she shows spring blooms such as purple columbine, white lily of the valley, blue bachelor button, and yellow dandelions. Available in our Library and in our Gift Shop.