Product Description

In this 32-page lap book we join Cassie, the main character from the picture book Tar Beach. As she takes us on a tour of her home, neighborhood, and school, dozens of new words are introduced with simple labels throughout. Young readers will love the simple story line and all the new words they’ll encounter. They’ll relish the beautifully designed spreads, each with its own quilt motif. The bright, boldly colored pages will attract even the youngest lookers, and the words will teach pre-reading skills to slightly older children. The size makes it perfect for story hours, and the price makes it perfect for every home.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154091 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01
• Released on: 2004-01-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553112337
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
In Cassie's Word Quilt, a young African American girl takes early readers on a remarkable tour of her 1930s-era Harlem home, school, and neighborhood. The tour serves as a vocabulary jaunt, as well. Dozens of objects are clearly labeled; the youngest viewers of this big lap book can point to familiar images as older readers read the captions: "doll," "quilt," "father," "subway," "jump rope." Ringgold's vibrant art captures the excitement of urban life in an era gone by. Gorgeous spreads feature a richly textured quilt motif, with illustrations picking up on the patterns in the squares of fabric bordering the pages. Seldom have we seen a word identification book as artful as Cassie's Word Quilt.

Ringgold's other titles include Caldecott Honor Book Tar Beach (on which Cassie's Word Quilt is based), and companion volumes Counting to Tar Beach and Cassie's Colorful Day. (Baby to Preschool) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Faith Ringgold returns to Tar Beach for Cassie's Word Quilt as the heroine takes readers on a tour of her home, neighborhood and school. Beginning with an upper and lower case alphabet on the endpapers, the volume introduces each theme in an illustration bordered by Ringgold's signature quilting, then specific vignettes follow on the opposite page. For instance, "Cassie's bedroom has many colorful clothes" appears above a grid of nine items (bed, dresser, doll, etc.) in a 3x3 formation.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Preschool-Grade 1--This is a wordbook, but much more. It is a lesson in the history and culture of New York City, 1939. Through Cassie, from Tar Beach (Crown, 1991), Ringgold presents a simple exploration of the child's life. In the well-patterned layout, readers see the roof of her apartment house, her bedroom, her block, her classroom, and her neighborhood. Two spreads introduce each area. One side of the first spread has a sentence such as, "Cassie's school is a good place to learn and have fun." The opposite side has a second explanatory sentence above a block of nine labeled pictures, laid out like a small quilt, that show things in the school, like "Classmates," "Teacher," and "Apple." The next spread takes those nine words and puts them into the classroom, so that students, the teacher, the apple, and the six other words reappear in that spread in action. The era and place come to life in Ringgold's boldly colored, heavily outlined paintings that show busy streets, Cassie's orderly multiracial classroom, the details of her neighborhood such as the grocer selling a quart of milk for six cents, a horse-drawn fruit stand, and a hand-pushed ice cart. Sentences and vocabulary are simple enough for beginning readers to handle on their own, but the book is also a wonderful vehicle for one-on-one sharing and classroom use.

Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NY

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Colorful and educational
"Cassie's Word Quilt," by Faith Ringgold, uses words and pictures to take us into the world of Cassie, an urban African-American girl who "dreams she can fly among the stars." We visit Tar Beach (the rooftop sundeck), Cassie's apartment, the neighborhood park, and her multiethnic classroom. Along the way, many items are pictured and labeled: dog, radio, lamp, teacup, sofa, flowers, etc. "Cassie's Word Quilt" thus has educational value for newer readers. Ringgold's artwork is colorful and fun.

Cassie's Word Quilt
"Cassie's Word Quilt" provides an introduction to the well-loved world created by Faith Ringgold in "Tar Beach". It uses the motif of quilts to break up the page into grids into which familiar objects are portrayed and labeled. It is as though we sat with Cassie on her quilt on Tar Beach and pointed out various objects in her world while she named them and told us how they fit in the mosaic that, when completed, describes the world of her home and neighborhood. "Cassie's Word Quilt" has more value as a companion to "Tar Beach" than a stand alone because it lacks a narrative thread. Faith Ringgold's powerful illustrative style effectively conveys the sights, sounds, and flavor of Cassie's Tar Beach neighborhood.