Return to Visual Interpretive Analysis Main Page
Reviews of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt |
When Sweet Clara, not yet 12, is taken from her mother and sent from North Farm to Home Plantation as a field hand, she's put in the care of "Aunt Rachel,'' not "my for-real blood aunt, but she did her best.'' Fearing for Clara's health, Rachel teaches her to sew and is lucky enough to get her a place in the Big House, where Clara listens, learns, and saves scraps that she eventually pieces into a map-quilt showing the way to the Ohio and freedom. The troubles Clara escapes are so muted here that her accomplishment seems almost too easy; in a straightforward narrative flavored with dialect, she mentions that recaptured slaves might be beaten and describes her grief at leaving her mother, but Ransome's moving depiction of the hug when the two are reunited on the way north is a more poignant clue to the pain of their separation. What's emphasized are Clara's resolve and creativity and the accomplishment of winning her freedom; in the same vein, Ransome depicts the characters as sturdy, purposeful, and mutually supportive and sets them in colorful landscapes eloquently proclaiming the earth's beauty. A well-told, handsomely illustrated story that effectively dramatizes young Clara's perseverance and courage.
From Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1993
Clara, a slave in the Big House on Home Plantation, begins to save scraps of colored cloth for a quilt that becomes a map depicting the route of the Underground Railroad and the way north to Canada and freedom. Clara eventually escapes herself by the path that has by now been stitched into her memory, leaving the quilt behind as a guide for others. The smooth, optimistic, first-person vernacular of the story is ably accompanied by Ransome's brightly colored, full-page paintings.
From Horn Book
In this picture book for older readers, Clara is a slave in the Big House, a seamstress for the woman who "owns" her. Separated from her mother and desperately unhappy, Clara plans her escape. Piece by piece, stitch by stitch, she maps out the route to Canada and freedom on a brightly colored quilt. No one speaks of the quilt outright, although every now and then someone gives a hint about the route: "That swamp next to Home Plantation is a nasty place. But listen up, Clara, and I'll tell you how I thread my way in and out of there as smooth as yo' needle in that cloth." When the quilt is done, Clara heads for her mother, the Underground Railroad, and freedom, leaving the quilt to lead those who would follow. Ransome's paintings reflect an affecting text, and the faces of Clara and her fellows are well drawn and expressive. The story backtracks slightly as it nears conclusion, interrupting the strength of the narrative flow, but Clara is a sympathetic and determined character not easily forgotten.
From BookList, Janice del Negro
[This] straightforward and inspiring story should be relatively easy for children to follow. They will learn about the ingenuity of the slaves, who used what they had on hand--even scraps of cloth--to outwit their masters. They will learn that even if slave conditions did not involve hard physical labor, slaves longed to be free. James Ransome's vivid and textured paintings support the words well, particularly in showing the stark contrast between the gloomy slave quarters and the 'sunflower yellow' of the master's 'Big House.'
From The New York Times Book
Review, Enola G. Aird
Unlike some African-American historical picture books that are stronger on atmosphere than plot, this one has a fusion of symbol and suspense that will pull kids into a real story. . . . While the use of colloquial speech patterns is inconsistent, . . . and the dialect is sometimes heavy ('Aine you gon' need the quilt where you goin'?'), readers-aloud can comfortably adapt the language, and the rather lengthy text has a good balance of conversation and narration. Ransome's full-page and double-spread paintings are filled with warm, optimistic light, the patterns of the quilt echoed in the details of the landscape. The jacket copy states that the story is based upon a 'true, little-known chapter in African-American history,'
From the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Roger Sutton
Return to Visual Interpretive Analysis Main Page