Book Review: Woven of the World (weaving, feeling, storytelling)(OT)

Woven of the World, by Katey Howes (Chronicle Books, $17.99, 2023, ages 5-8, 44 pages, grades K-3)

Blue is. . . .

A unique book in mostly black, about the little known art (and science) of weaving down through the ages, Woven of the World can be read and appreciated on many levels. For the littlest readers, you might ask them to find the blue animal (a cat) on each page and to wonder along with you, why the woman's and girl's hair is blue. 

. . . History and Geography

Starting in China and Egypt and through Africa to pioneer America, we travel through time and place (even with the Salish Indians of the Pacific Northwest)

along with a little girl who  may be listening to history (or stories) from her mother or her grandmother, as she learns to weave from the best.

I love the back and front book covers, a patchwork of designs, and on the back paper cover, nothing! Nothing but black, inviting the young reader to use a piece of chalk and create a picture - of the future perhaps?

The more you read Woven of the World, the more you see in it, in both the whimsical detailed pictures and the rhythmic words.

On another level is the history of the world, in chronological order, and a tour of weaving terms which can also be found on the inside covers for little hands to point to and identify.

Weaving produces both something utilitarian and beautiful yet the beauty reflects diverse cultures as a result of evolving looms and other equipment as well as the thread material and designs.

For the adult reader, author Katey Howes has included a history of the cultures depicted in the book. These pages inform the adult reader and connect the different parts of the storyline.

Could weaving be the thread that unites the world, its people and the stories passed down from generation to generation? We should ask our children!