Woven of the World
by Katey Howes; illus. by Dinara Mirtalipova
Primary    Chronicle    40 pp.
2/23    9781452178066    $17.99

“Click. Clack. / Swish— / pull back. / Bobbin and heddle, / foot pedal, no slack.” A rhyming, rhythmic text, meant to mimic the sounds of a modern floor loom, uses a child’s first-person voice to explore the practice of weaving through history, highlighting some of the many cultures practicing this art. From page to page, with weaving as the through line, a child toys with the yarn, making connections and imagining her way around the world (beginning with China and the silkworm) while her elder works at the loom, turning the story into a metaphorical global tapestry. Gouache illustrations in contrasting reds and blues play with the ideas and concepts mentioned in the text in a fanciful way. The girl and her cat peek out from behind pottery featuring Egyptian settings, the text chanting, “It sings of flaxen fibers spun / by fingers deft and proud— / threads destined for a dancer’s robes / or for a pharaoh’s shroud.” While readers would need to have a firm understanding of world history to recognize all the visual and textual cues, extensive back matter expands on each cultural tradition and the time period. Author and illustrator notes include details about their intentions and research in this broad sweep of appreciation and respect for the craft of handmade textiles across cultures.

From the January/February 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.