The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Hopkinson, Deborah

Under the Quilt of Night

40 pp. | Atheneum/Schwartz | January, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-689-82227-8 $$16.00

(2) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Author and artist portray a plucky young narrator who uses a quilt as her guide to freedom. Comforting blues and purples in the illustrations augur success for a group of escaping slaves; their story is told in a series of free-verse poems. This book expresses the poignant range of emotions experienced by slaves who risked the journey to freedom. An author's note discusses both the history and the folklore that inform the story.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002