This story is a bout a little girl losing her grandmother. To cope with the loss, the girl says she will stay with the grandmother forever. When she realizes she would miss her family too much, the little girl decides to leave her grandmother above the clouds. I like the use of the ball of string to represent memories of the grandmothers life. Even when people die, they leave behind all the memories of what they have done. The tradition of the ball of sting was then passed down to her granddaughter who said she will pass it down when she is a grandmother. The work is of ancient japan. The collage like pictures use deep, rich colors. The language used helps deal with the loss of someone, but in a gentle way. ( )

Summary:
The Long Silk strand is a sweet story about the endurance of a Grandmother's love for her granddaughter. Every night, Yasuyo (granddaughter)watched as her grandmother ties together many pieces of silk thread into a ball. Each strand represents a story from her Grandmother's life and night after night with each story the ball grew. Then one day Grandmother was gone. Yasuyo was sad and one day while in the garden Yasuyo saw a silk thread hanging from the sky. She climbs it to the top of the clouds and on her journey there she learns the true meaning of the silk strand.

Personal Reaction:
I enjoyed this book. I am also close to my Grandmother and as a child I can remember always wanting to stay with her. We share a special bond and a Grandmother's love is extra special!

Extension Ideas:
1. In the classroom, I would have students write a short essay about the memories they have had with their Grandmother or a person of importance to them.
2. Will have a class discussion about the essays and those that wish to share their story can.

night before grandma died grandma was telling me a story about the silk strand. The girl name is Yasuyo and she is very sad , she could find the big ball of silk of grandma memory so she ran out side and found a strand and was pulling on it but it is to strong so she climb ,climb,climb until she got the cloud and saw her grandma ,she huged her and said she wants to stsy with her grandma said okay lets say good by to your father,mother and her brother and said they will miss you if you stay with me ,so yasuyo grandma said you will always be with me ,she gave her a strand and this is all the momories of us. pierce college library ages 7 and older

Summary:

This book is about a young Korean girl that forms a tight bond with her grandmother. Everynight her grandmother would tie two strands of silk together representing a part of her life, all forming one big strand. Later finding out that her grandmother dies in her sleep.

Personal Reaction:

I was really fasinated with this book,because,i liked the bond that she had with her grandmother,because i had a similar bond with my grandmother.

Classroom Extension:

This book will teach the children on how to deal with the passing of their loved ones. ( )

In this story a young Korea girl forms a tight bond with her grandmother. Every night her grandmother ties together two silk strands and tells her stories of her life. Each new strand her grandmother adds represents a part of her life, all forming one big strand. Then one morning her mother told her, her grandmother had died in her sleep. She is saddened by the news, the frantically looks for her grandmother. She walks out the garden and looks up in the sky and she sees her grandmother silk strand hanging from the clouds. She climbs up it and sees her grandmother and she explains how with this silk strand she will always be with here and that her memories are interwoven in the silk strands. This helps her find closure and she too thought she would someday do the same for her granddaughter.
This is a wonderful story that teaches children how to deal with the passing of a love one. In Addition, this story is an inside into other culture traditions.
A fun activity for parents to do with children after the reading this book, would be to create a tradition that you and your kids can do that will leave lasting memories. Also, teacher can read this story if anyone in the class have recently lost a love one. ( )