December 1, 2021
PreS-Gr 2-Asiya knows that inside her nanu's house, there is a treasure chest. It is the katha chest, filled with quilts her Nanu made out of old saris. As Asiya examines each quilt, she thinks of the women the saris once belonged to and the stories that define their unique strengths. While Asiya does not narrate, the text has a simplicity evocative of childhood, focusing primarily on her sensory exploration of the katha quilts. After Asiya introduces each quilt, along with a brief reference to the woman who wore the sari, the following page spread conveys the woman's story in four highly detailed wordless panels. For example, the panels show a woman wearing the sari; holding her three worried children close to her pregnant belly as her husband strides away bearing the flag of Bangladesh; cradling her newborn and older children within her sari, while an image above shows shadowy figures firing guns; and the husband returned to his smiling family, holding the youngest child and wearing a medal. Many of the panels portray serious issues such as war and death. Most young readers will need the guidance of an adult, and for that reason the book may be best suited to one-on-one reading. The volume of significant visual details, many specific to Bangladeshi culture, mean this book can be explored at multiple levels. Educators can simply enjoy a vibrant story about family, or use the book to discuss the impact of trauma and the power of resilience. VERDICT This engaging and colorful celebration of the legacy of strength shared by women is recommended for general purchase.-Elizabeth Lovsin, Deerfield P. L., IL
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2022
Grades K-3 There are few things as intriguing to children as an old-fashioned chest, especially one that hold secrets, scents, and mysteries. For Asiya, her grandmother's katha chest is one such place of wonders. Kathas are lightweight quilts, usually constructed by hand from repurposed saris or other fabrics. Asiya delights in burrowing among the soft kathas, absorbing their warmth, and recalling the significance of each unique quilt. They tell the stories of the women in her family--grandmother, mother, and aunts--told here through wordless illustrated panels through which readers can piece together moments of loss, joy, triumph, and determination. Cultural insiders will recognize visual references to the 1971 Bangladeshi war of independence, a historical event that still marks millions of lives. The illustrations themselves are painted to reflect the traditional katha style, with two-dimensional figures and rows of minute stitching. A beautiful book that has cultural and universal relevance for everyone, it can be paired thematically with two classics, The Keeping Quilt, by Patricia Polacco, and The Patchwork Quilt, by Valerie Flournoy.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 15, 2022
Brown-skinned, dark-haired Asiya loves her nanu's (grandmother's) katha chest and the katha quilts they hold. The light quilts are made of stitched-together layers of old saris that her nanu, her mother, and her khalas (aunts) don't wear anymore. Asiya loves hearing the wonderful family stories these heirloom quilts tell; illustrations inspired by Pattachitra and Bengali folk art dramatize the stories in wordless panels on double-page spreads. They recall important times, happy as well as difficult, when the saris were worn by bold women in Asiya's family. The artwork throughout is vibrant and colorful, with gorgeously patterned quilts, and adds a deeper historical layer to the text. Asiya's family members have dark hair and skin tones in various shades of brown. As they come together to pore over the quilts, drink tea, and tell family stories, they wear clothing typical of people in the Bengal and Bangladesh regions of India, including headscarves. Some of the vernacular from those regions is used in the text, the words neither italicized nor explained, which may be confusing to some readers but doesn't other Bengali and Bangladeshi people. In brief notes at the end, Chowdhury and Naidu share about the importance of saris and katha quilts in their lives. (This book was reviewed digitally.) This warm picture book of familial love and history brings alive a meaningful Bangladeshi tradition. (Picture book. 4-8)
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 17, 2021
In Radhiah Chowdhury and Lavanya Naidu’s book, elegant textile patterns are patchworked together with descriptive snapshot stories of young Asiya’s family members and their histories. Asiya delights in every one of her grandmother’s kathas (quilts), each one representing the life and experiences of the women whose saris they’re made of; Asiya loves to feel them and imagine them ‘whispering soft, warm stories to her’. Drawing on their respective South Asian cultures, Chowdhury—who is an advocate, as an author and editor, for representation and diversity in publishing—and Naidu offer a gentle book with a small narrative journey (the catalogue of memories leads to the family celebrating and farewelling their matriarch and maker of the quilts) and a big narrative heart. The quilts are paired with panels styled after Bengali folk art, wordless chronicles of each family member Asiya recognises; and revealed in the quilts are her aunts’ personalities, losses and passions. Asiya’s own mother’s quilt, which is different to the others, is unmistakable because it ‘smells like ink and tomato sauce and home’. The book, suitable for the 3–6-year-old audience (as well as older readers who might use it as inspiration for their own patchwork or memory projects), is one of love, reminiscence and family.
Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, an editor and writer, is a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop.