Children’s Books With Quilting Themes

When Kanzi moves from Egypt to America, all she wants to do is fit in. But when mom arrives at her school with her forgotten lunch, her classmates notice how different her mom dresses and talks. The teasing begins, and Kanzi returns home and wraps herself in the quilt her grandmother gave her and writes a poem about the quilt in Arabic. Her teachers sees the poem and begins a class project the next day that involves creating a paper quilt of student names in Arabic. This is a sweet, beautiful book about belonging, acceptance, and sharing our different cultures.

This incredible book tells the story of Clara, a slave and seamstress on Home Plantation, who overhears plans about the Underground Railroad. Wanting to help those dreaming of freedom, she uses her quilt making skills along with scraps of fabric she finds from working in the Big House to create a map for the Underground Railroad.

For nearly 200 years, African American women living in the rural community of Gee’s Bend have been making quilts. Using fabric from old overalls, aprons, bleached cornmeal sacks, and other scraps, they have created magnificent pieces of art. Their quilting tradition has been passed down from generation to generation, and the stunning quilts have ended up displayed at renowned museums. This book includes full color photographs of some of the quilts as well as interviews with the Gee’s Bend community.

This is another picture book about Gee’s Bend, only this one is gorgeously illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera (one of my favorite illustrators!). Author Patricia McKissack visited Gee’s Bend, Alabama, to collect stories about these quilts, and wrote poems to celebrate the familial, cultural, spiritual, and historical strands of life in this community.

Author Lizzy Rockwell is the founder and director of the cooperative community quilting group Peace by Piece: The Norwalk Community Quilt Project. In this picture book, she speaks to some of her experiences doing a multi-generational quilting project, from gathering people together, selecting colorful pieces of fabric for each square, and creating a handprint border. This is a lovely story of community coming together to make art!