THE KNITTING OF ELIZABETH AMELIA
by Patricia Lee Gauch and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee
A whimsical original fairy tale about motherhood. When Elizabeth Amelia’s mother discovers a ball of yarn in the attic, she knits a woollen baby. With wry ingenuity, Gauch describes the perks of a yarn child: She’s bouncy, she washes well and she is warm—both in spirit and person. After her marriage, Elizabeth Amelia longs for a child of her own. Unable to find just the right yarn to use, she unravels just a bit of her own wool to knit a baby girl. Four children later, Elizabeth Amelia has undone herself until she is almost all gone: “Elizabeth Amelia,” exclaims her husband. “You’re nothing but a pillow!” With her family’s encouragement, the irrepressible Elizabeth Amelia re-knits herself into a new creation, complete with crimson shoes so she and her husband can go dancing again. Lavallee’s watercolor illustrations, featuring an array of rich hues, are a natural extension of the tale. Her detailed pictures neatly capture the folksy nature of the story. With humor and a dash of wisdom, this allegorical tale examines the transforming nature of parenthood, in both its positive and negative aspects. (Picture book. 4-8)