Jeanette W Stickel

Mama's Needle Jeanette W Stickel

North Street Book Prize, first place award in the Children's Picture Book categoryWinning Writers 2019 The judges and screeners were in agreement about loving Mama's Needle, Jeanette W. Stickel's excellent children's book about a young African-American boy whose mother is an artistically gifted quilter. She uses her needle not only to patch clothes but to create a beautiful quilt for his bed, a project that connects perfectly to the book's theme of dreaming. Ellen LaFlecheA young boy tells of his Mama's needle and her spool of long white thread. She uses it to patch holes in the knees of his pants, bind scraps of cloth into quilts and stitch dreams into reality. When he has a magical dream of her needle and thread, mama stitches a quilt together for remembering, and on it, are patches of his dreams. Wearing his quilt as a cape, he flies with his imagination.