Stitchin' and Pullin' by McKissack

Title: Stitchin’ and Pullin’

Author: Patricia C. McKissack

Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Summary: “MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, grandmother and granddaughter, aunt and niece, friend and friend. For a hundred years, generations of women from Gee’s Bend have quilted together, sharing stories, trading recipes, singing hymns—all the while stitchin’ and pullin’ thread through cloth. Every day Baby Girl listens, watches, and waits, until she’s called to sit at the quilting frame. Piece by piece, she puzzles her quilt together—telling not just her story, but the story of her family, the story of Gee’s Bend, and the story of her ancestors’ struggle for freedom.”

Theme: In rural Alabama area, Baby Girl cherishes her family and friends knowing their ancestors’ history of suffering from racial justice by making her own first quilt. It is a story of warmth.

Medium: Watercolor, patterns, colorful

Literacy Elements:

Setting: It is located in Gee’s Bend, in Wilcox County, Alabama. It is a rural community that was isolated from the city. It shows the culture of African-Americans through their reasons and views on quilts. The genre is historical fiction (African-American fiction) and poetry. The setting is integral of the story because the book includes the history where her ancestors worked as slaves and now they become landowners. The setting plays importantly in the story, as it is part of history. Also, the illustrations are well matched to the text. For example, one poem, “Colors” talks about colors and the illustration was soft yellow because in the poem, the Baby Girl’s favorite color is yellow because yellow warms.”

Characterization: The Baby Girl is the narrator in the book as she is writing the poems. So it means it is from first point of view. The story is flat because there is no plot or climax. It is a story of her expression about her history with families. There is no conflict to the story. The book shows the pictures of her grandma, family, and friends. It also includes Martin Luther King, Jr. to talk about history.

Plot: The plot was flat. However, it shows the warmth of the book from the Baby Girl’s perspectives on her rural community history. Every page shows creativity of different poems and illustration. There is no climax to this book.

Style: The style of writing is unique because it has different poems expressed in different ways. It is well detailed on how Baby Girl feels, her experiences with her family, and African American history. It includes different styles of poems. All of them are connected together to make it a story even there are different titles of many poems. Some have rhythm, some have dialogues, and some include punctuations. The illustration was soft with colors in background. It includes different kind of colors so it is colorful book. It also has wavy lines. The mood was light, calmness, and soft.

Evaluation/Reflection: This book is for 1^st to 5^th graders. Actually, anyone can enjoy this book because it gives you the idea of the little black girl’s perspective on her culture in rural community. She shows that she has strong bond with her family and she is happy with what they have. I think it is also interesting how she applies her expression to quilt. It made sense because the quilt has patterns and each square has its own meaning based on history, expression, culture, colors, and many more. The quilt is a mark of history. I enjoy it and it is a warm book.