A FAR-FETCHED STORY by Karin Cates HC Ex-Lib Book

Hardcover library edition Ex-library book Despite having plenty of wood for the winter ahead, a worried grandmother sends the family out to gather even more, and when all five return with nothing but interesting tales, grandmother knows she has to get to the bottom of things in order to find out what they have been really doing with their day. Jr Lib Guild. K-Gr 2-In this folktale-like story, Grandmother wants just one more armful of firewood for the winter woodpile, but the boy, girl, mother, father, and baby all come back empty-handed and with their clothing in tatters. As the five sit shivering on the bed, the old woman has a great idea. Burn the ragged clothes for heat? No, make a quilt that "kept the whole family as warm as toast and as safe as fairy tales all through the long, hard winter-." Never mind the logic of what they'll wear when they finally get out of bed-this story has just the right amount of humor to convince readers that these five sillies are in good hands with Grandmother. While most of the illustrations are done in ink line and watercolor, the family members' "far-fetched" accounts of how their clothes have been ruined have been photocopied to transfer paper and ironed onto frayed white linen, thus setting these "stories" off from the main narrative. Carpenter adds detail with machine embroidery to form a unique illustrative technique. The resulting subdued colors lend old-time heft to the pictures and expressive black lines give the skeptical Grandmo