Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt by Barbara Smucker Illustrated by Janet Wilson

from goodreads

4 stars

 

I woke up today, not knowing what it would hold. Little did I know that I would be a winner! "What did you win?" you might ask. Well, I'll tell you. Waterloo Public Library had a contest yesterday (it was a holiday hear in Ontario) and you had to email this person a book tittle with the word Walk or Walking in it. So I emailed the title The Walk by Richard Paul Evans. This morning when I was checking my email there was a message from the library saying I won. I won a pedometer!!! Pretty swanky, I'll say. I'm am super excited to pick it up. I have been thinking for while that I should wear one, and now I can. My only question is... was I the only entrant, or was the competition fierce. I think I will go with the fierce description as it makes the winning all that more awesome! Yes I know I am a geek for being this excited about winning a pedometer. I gotta take my excitement where I can get it.

 

Synopsis

 

Selina lives on a farm in Pennsylvania. She loves looking at the bits of material her grandmother has in her stash. Each piece is a memory of their life. She especially loves the Bear Paw quilt top her grandmother has made. Selina's family has to move from their farm because the camps on each side of the civil war are leery over the Mennonite community for not taking a side in the war. Selina's family has to move to be safe from harm. This is a beautiful tale of family, sacrifice and memories.

 

My Thoughts

 

I wasn't sure what to think about this book when it was brought home. Miss G., my 5 year old, brought this from her school library and was so excited to have it read to her. I was like "really?!?"  as this is not her usual book (thank goodness!) So, we read it. I think my daughter liked it because around each picture is a quilted boarder with beautiful material. And as we read the story she was got even more excited because the place where Selina and her family move to is where we live. I got to tell her how we had been to the train station that Selina got off the train at, and that maybe she even walked where our street is now. (Back in those days our street was probably someone's field.) After reading it Miss G. asked, "Did this story happen in real life?" I told her, "While this story and Selina were probably made up, this happened to people and so in that way, yes, it did happen." She was super excited.

 

So this book was a hit. I even enjoyed it too. It is a bit wordy for really young children. The story flows beautifully. I love how the story shows so much fun and warmth within the family. Yes, living on the farm was hard work, but it was still fun and the family truly loved each other. I loved how special Selina's character felt when her grandmother showed her the scraps of material. It allowed me to catch a glimpse into the lives of these people and it was beautiful. I also liked how the story told a bit of history that might not be known too much. I knew that some of the Mennonite families around Waterloo came from Pennsylvania but I didn't really know the reason why. I just figured they wanted some more nice farm land. It is great when a kids book can tell history without it seeming dull and boring.

 

The illustrations were beautiful. As mentioned before I loved the quilt boarders that are around each illustration. It adds so much character. 

 

It was very cool to learn that the author lived, for many years, close to where we do. I read her book Underground to Canada growing up and loved it. I visited Waterloo a lot as a child (I am not originally from here), I wonder if I ever passed her at the market or at the University? It is very cool when there are those connections.

 

The only thing about this book that is a negative is now I am itching to get out my sewing machine and start quilting. (I don't have the time for that right now). Miss G. has already demanded a bear paw quilt for her bed. I guess I will have to add it to my to do list.