Synopses & Reviews
Its the early 1800s, and Abbies sister, Sarah, is a proper young lady who loves needlework. She has already made a sampler displaying her neat and even stitching. But when it becomes time for Abbie to make her sampler, she despairs - she hates needlework and would much rather curl up with one of the books on Papas shelf. How will she ever get through the long, tedious hours of needlework? And how can she pick a subject for a picture to sew when she really doesnt care about the sampler at all? After considering whats really important to her, Abbie completes the sampler in a way that is all her own.
Lovely pastel illustrations accompany this story about a girl who is not afraid to speak (or sew) whats really on her mind - that she would rather be reading. Abbie in Stitches is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Review
"A good selection for those who like reading about life in other times." --School Library Journal "The illustrations have freely drawn impressionistic backgrounds and nicely detailed facial expressions and needlework bits." --have Reviews "Peck's attractive, painterly illustrations ahve a layered look; their broad brush strokes contrast nicely with the delicate preciseness of Abbie's embroidery." --Booklist
About the Author
Cynthia Cotten has written several books for young readers, including This Is the Stable, At the Edge of the Woods and Snow Ponies. She grew up in Lockport, New York, a small town on the Erie Canal. She didnt always know she wanted to be a writer—she dreamed of being a teacher, a marine biologist, a U.N. interpreter and a jockey—but she always loved reading. “My idea of the perfect summer vacation,” she says, “was to go to the library once a week, check out as many books as I could fit into my bike basket, and spend the rest of the week sitting someplace cool, reading.” Cotten lives in Montclair, Virginia.