The Warmest Blanket in the World

Written by Tamara Levine

Illustrated by Ellie Arscott

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-410-8

24 pp.

Ages 6-8

February 2025 

 

While most of us are already thinking about the warmth of spring and summer, there will be many, particularly the elderly, for whom the change of seasons will not necessarily bring that which would warm their fingers and toes. For those with poorer circulation and other health issues, particularly those associated with aging, cold feet and hands can be problematic. And young Frida wishes she could do something to help her amazing great-grandmother Ama who says she feels like she lives in a refrigerator.

From The Warmest Blanket in the World, written by Tamara Levine, illustrated by Ellie Arscott

Frida enjoys visiting her great-grandmother as much as the older woman relishes seeing the child, telling her each time, "Do you know you've made my day? You're one special kid!" Ama tells Frida stories about her life and the importance of women fighting for their rights. (Frida even attended a protest with Ama once.) They sing songs together and they snuggle under her blanket. But even that blanket doesn't keep Ama warm enough. So, Frida gets some advice from her mom, her grandmother and her aunt.

From The Warmest Blanket in the World, written by Tamara Levine, illustrated by Ellie Arscott

Frida recalls what she'd learned of muskoxen which reminds her aunt, a knitter, of a mill in Nisku, Alberta where Tanis, an Inuk woman from NWT, prepares qiviut, the wool that comes from muskoxen. This wool is said to be the warmest in the world. 

From The Warmest Blanket in the World, written by Tamara Levine, illustrated by Ellie Arscott

Frida writes Tanis and explains how much she loves her great-grandmother and how much Ama has done to make things better for girls and women. Now Frida wants to help her. The response she gets is far greater than some skeins of wool.

From The Warmest Blanket in the World, written by Tamara Levine, illustrated by Ellie Arscott

There are a lot of layers to Tamara Levine's story of The Warmest Blanket in the World. There is a sweet intergenerational relationship between Ama and Frida. There is a story of activism and doing good and supporting the rights of others, particularly women and girls. There is also a story of compassion and sharing. And there's the story of the muskoxen and how the Inuit have spun the wool of these Arctic animals into yarn and clothing. That's a lot of stories, and Ottawa's Tamara Levine weaves them all together in a story of family. This is more than a story of a blanket. It's about who needs what, who can help, and why we should help. 

Ellie Arscott, who illustrated the award-winning Night Walk, keeps the lightness of family and the warmth of a blanket and affection in her artwork, done in watercolour and ink. There is realism, when she depicts the muskoxen on the tundra and in the sepia images of suffragettes fighting for the right to vote. But there is a quaintness in the patterns of blankets and bed linens, in the calico cat and in the coziness of their homes. Ellie Arscott keeps it all bright and homey.

 

The Warmest Blanket in the World is a tender story of family and kindness. It's wrapped in qiviut and embedded with affection and humanity. It doesn't get any more warm-hearted than that.

Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All

Written by Sheree Fitch

Illustrated by Darka Erdelji

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917-10-7

68 pp.

Ages 5-8

June 2017

Before Sheree Fitch even begins to tell her story, she invites "Listeners Young and Old" to enjoy her yarn.

Tales are for telling and the truth may be tall,
My yarn is for spinning as the earth spins for all. 

This is a yarn for
   a windy night
      or a rainy day
         or any old time
            or a circle of souls
               or a broken lonely heart– 

so hunker down by a crackling fire and read aloud just to yourself
or share my yarn with those you love. (pg. 5)

Her yarn begins with the joyful first "Baa" bleated by a very special lamb born in the village of River John. It's a sound that

"...wrapped round that village 
like a ribbon of joy 
     a warm woolly scarf 
          or a magical spell from a long ago fairy tale" (pg. 8)

Meanwhile in the small countship of Woodland, the greedy Count Woolliam and his sister Woolamina, the Countess of Fleece and Fluff, are ruminating over the status of their flock and whether there will be sufficient wool for all their woolly needs: robes, sweaters, hats, socks, blankets, rugs, tissues and more.  They too hear that first "Baa" and head out in search of that special lamb, determined to take it for their own.

From Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All 

by Sheree Fitch 

illus. by Darka Erdelji

Polly MacCauley, a woman rarely seen and about whom the grownups often whisper and the children wonder, who did "extra-ordinary, wild and wondrous things with W-O-O-L" (pg. 18), hears that same "Baa" and is thrilled to realized that she would soon be able to knit her "finest, most divinest, woolliest gift of all." (pg. 23)

But, after the lamb's mother dies and her mournful cries are heard around the world, Star–as she is named by Farmer John's family–feels disconnected and good for nothing.  That is until Polly, venturing out for the first time in ages, visits Farmer John's farm.  Though there is a potential conflict when the Count and Countess demand the lamb, they are moved by the love that the village of River John feels for Star (it's a woolly Grinch moment: "Something, some hole in his greedy brittle heart, stitched together."; pg. 53) and Star goes home with her new mama, Polly.

The magic is just beginning, though, because Star grows a very thick coat of fleece daily which Polly shears and uses to work on her masterpiece, as well as the plethora of wool projects Polly and her new knitting group undertake for the newborns, children and fishermen of River John and the people of the world. "Like love, there is always enough wool to go around." (pg. 57)

From Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All 

by Sheree Fitch 

illus. by Darka Erdelji

And, though there is finally great purpose and much happiness with some sorrow still to come in Star's life, it is Polly MacCauley's gift to Mother Earth that will become the true star of the story, there "wherever and whenever someone needs a bit of wool or a bit of warmth or maybe the piecing together of a sad and lonely heart" (pg. 65).

Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All is an atypical picture book.  Though the illustrations by Slovenian artist and former St. John's resident Darka Erdelji add the whimsy and ethereal fiber to Sheree Fitch's story, this tale is lengthy and text extensive and not a quick read before bedtime.  It is, however, a read-aloud story of story-telling breadth, deep and involved and rich with the essence of life.  It has love, sadness, grief, death, conflict, compassion and hope, so much hope.  There will be cheers and tears and bleats of appreciation for a story of history and connectedness, generosity and inspiration.  Sheree Fitch, whose poetry I have long admired, can turn a phrase with such adeptness that readers will feel the tugs on their own heart yarns and the weaving of a blanket of comfort and contentment.  And though Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All is firmly rooted in the Maritimes of her home, Sheree Fitch has woven a story for the world in both context and spirit.

From Polly MacCauley's Finest Divinest Woolliest Gift of All 

by Sheree Fitch 

illus. by Darka Erdelji

🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎

If you're fortunate enough to live near or be visiting the Maritimes, consider stopping it at Mabel Murple's Book Shoppe and Dreamery in River John, Nova Scotia, a specialty bookstore just opened this month by Sheree Fitch and featuring Atlantic Canadian books in all genres as well as Canadian children's books.