Ferida Wolff

I. Love. This. Book.

Seriously, it left me with tears in my eyes. The illustrations are cute, and the message is SO STRONG. By turning a "worry" into this sort of monster-thing, it helps to make it something tangible and real and, thus, something you can DO something about. There are lots of suggestions and solutions for what might worry you, some silly and some serious.

I received this book free from NetGalley for in exchange for an honest review, and IMMEDIATELY went and ordered a show more paperback copy to read to my 3 year old (who is a bit of a worry-wart). I also will recommend this to a friend who is a social worker, as I think it will be useful in her line of work as well. show less

When Babba Zarrah notices that Nikolai, one of the village children who come to her for stories, has a hole in his shoe, she decides to knit him some nice, warm socks. Unfortunately, the winter snows have prevented any deliveries from reaching the village, and she is out of wool. Nothing daunted, she unravels a piece of her story blanket, and uses the material to make some socks. Over time, as she notices more and more villagers in need, she unravels more of her blanket, until it is show more completely gone. The villagers, noticing these unusual anonymous gifts, soon get to the bottom of it, and touched by Babba Zarrah's generosity, reward her with some gifts in return...

Pairing a poignant tale with lovely artwork, The Story Blanket is a picture-book exploration of community, storytelling, and reciprocal generosity and caring. I see from the author blurbs on the rear dust-jacket flap that co-author Harriet May Savitz passed away in 2008, the same year the book was published. Perhaps Ferida Wolff finished the story for her? If so, how appropriate that this was a co-authored book, given the fact that it contains a tale about communal use of resources, and how the material of the story blanket is shared out among the many villagers, only for those villagers to contribute the material for a new blanket. I haven't read anything else by these two authors, nor have I encountered the work of Spanish illustrator Elena Odriozola, but The Story Blanket is certainly enough to convince me to give their work another try, when the opportunity presents itself. Recommended to anyone looking for children's books about storytelling, community, sharing, and/or knitting. show less

Worrying is natural and everyone will get there eventually. Growing up, anxiety and worrying was something I didn't even think about or really understand. I had some difficult times growing up and always stayed positive, and then one day it hit me like a brick wall. I didn't know how to cope, and a book like this would have helped me understand what was going on inside my brain. I'm glad there are more resources available now to help kids with these issues.

The book itself is a great resource show more and tool on top of just being a good book. I kinda had a good chuckle reading this book, because the annoying and strange dynamic of worry kinda feels like the weird monster that is representing it in this book. It was on the nose for how I would picture worry, so I'm quite impressed.

This book makes worrying seem so simple. It not only explains what worrying is but also different ways to cope with it. It explains it in an easy to understand way that I think young readers would be able to identify with. It gives a great analogy for worry and helps explain it in ways that just make sense. I would recommend using this book for middle graders, or grades two and up.

The art style was also unique. It felt crayon-y and kind of nostalgic. It was very intriguing and not a style I've seen a lot of.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tanglewood for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. show less

Co-authors Ferida Wolff and Dolores Kozielski, along with illustrator Dolores Avendaño, turn to the spooky doings of a Halloween night in this rhyming counting book. Moving from one to thirteen, the text here describes all sorts of creepy creatures - witches and ghosts, bats and wolves - out and about on this spooky night. The accompanying artwork depicts the creatures being mentioned, often also showing two young children watching in the background...

Having enjoyed the work of both Wolff show more (The Story Blanket) and Avendaño (Cats and Robbers), and loving the holiday of Halloween, I expected to find On Halloween Night quite engaging. Unfortunately, while I did indeed like Avendaño's atmospheric illustrations, I found the text from Wolff and Kozielski hit or miss. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't, and the rhyming structure - the fourth lines of all the different stanzas rhyme with one another - frequently felt awkward. Textually, this was really a two-star title for me, but I raised my rating, given my appreciation for the artwork. This isn't one I strongly recommend, as there are far better Halloween and/or counting books out there, although fans of the artist might want to give it a try. show less