Harriet May Savitz (1933–2008)

In this bland but worthy original tale old, Babba Zarrah sees that young Nikolai has a hole in his shoe and, having no other wool, secretly unravels part of the blanket she spreads out when children gather to hear her stories to knit him a pair of warm socks. As she sees others in need, the blanket mysteriously continues to shrink until it’s gone. When the mystified neighbors at last put two and two together they band together and unravel parts of their own blankets to give Babba Zarrah the wool for a new story blanket. Odriozola populates the small village setting with solemn, moon-faced figures, dresses the comfortably rounded Babba Zarrah in elaborately patterned housedresses and depicts both the old and the new carpets as colorful patchworks. In the end Babba Zarrah spots a hole in a young listener’s sweater just as she’s relating a new story about a community where everyone shares with everyone else—so much for the new blanket. A low-key discussion starter. (Picture book. 6-8)

-Kirkus Review… (más)

When Babba Zarrah notices that Nikolai, one of the village children who come to her for stories, has a hole in his shoe, she decides to knit him some nice, warm socks. Unfortunately, the winter snows have prevented any deliveries from reaching the village, and she is out of wool. Nothing daunted, she unravels a piece of her story blanket, and uses the material to make some socks. Over time, as she notices more and more villagers in need, she unravels more of her blanket, until it is completely gone. The villagers, noticing these unusual anonymous gifts, soon get to the bottom of it, and touched by Babba Zarrah's generosity, reward her with some gifts in return...

Pairing a poignant tale with lovely artwork, The Story Blanket is a picture-book exploration of community, storytelling, and reciprocal generosity and caring. I see from the author blurbs on the rear dust-jacket flap that co-author Harriet May Savitz passed away in 2008, the same year the book was published. Perhaps Ferida Wolff finished the story for her? If so, how appropriate that this was a co-authored book, given the fact that it contains a tale about communal use of resources, and how the material of the story blanket is shared out among the many villagers, only for those villagers to contribute the material for a new blanket. I haven't read anything else by these two authors, nor have I encountered the work of Spanish illustrator Elena Odriozola, but The Story Blanket is certainly enough to convince me to give their work another try, when the opportunity presents itself. Recommended to anyone looking for children's books about storytelling, community, sharing, and/or knitting.… (más)