The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom

Straightforward story with believable characters shows how slaves planned carefully to run to freedom in Canada, getting colder every step of the way. While the "code" may be somewhat fiction, it does show how staying on the northbound path, evading slave catchers and their dogs, and finally reaching the shores of freedom were real clues then memories kept in handcrafts like quilts. This is beautifully illustrated.

Fantastic book and it was in perfect condition. This book shows how quilts were used as signs.

I am a soon to be teacher and was making a thematic unit for the Underground Railroad. This book is so great. OH and I"m a quilter. I love the pictures and the story!

This memorable book is based on a story of quilts and The Underground Railroad passed down orally from grandmother to mother to daughter. Instead of nonfiction, this book is a well-written fictional story about a young slave girl, Hannah, living on a Southern plantation. Bettye Stroud's sensitive prose, illustrated by Erin Susanne Bennett's bold, angular drawings, is an excellent way to introduce young children to a tragic time in US history; a time when children, as well as adults, were owned by others. Stroud uses her well-honed writing skills to bring this time back, and to show a little girl coping with the challenges and succeeding.

This tale of a child who makes a quilt as a map for her escape along the Underground Railroad is an inspiring story with handsome, earth-toned illustrations. The characters' stylized faces reflect the book's storybook "climate." I am not going to present this story to students as a slice of realistic history about the harsh period of slavery (that stain on our country's history). Instead, I'll present this lovely story as an idealized portrait about the human spirit prevailing against darkness/suffering. The main character is a child - born a slave, torn from family - who creates a quilt to guide her to freedom. Her quilt is really a symbol of order and beauty. This is a story about human ingenuity using the resources at hand to prevail against weighty odds, to triumph.