Loose Threads

May 20, 2024
An embroidered shawl’s underside represents an alternate realm in this inventive picture book. Having lost keys, a scarf, gloves, an umbrella, and more, Leilah deflects their mother’s scolding. Leilah explains that “everything here is in its place... just like the stitches in Grandma’s embroidery.” But stories are told about an adjacent domain, “full of knots, dangling threads, and odd animals,” that can only be seen in dreams. Convinced that the missing things have fallen through holes in the world, Leilah ventures out, armed with supplies to make repairs. But closing up those holes has unexpected and unpleasant results around the summer solstice. Sketchlike characters atop textile and scarf backgrounds bring to life Isol’s eerie concept, which celebrates the fascinating reverse side of intricate stitching patterns. Character skin tones reflect the hue of the page. Endnotes cite the highlighted scarf as being a gift from the Tamer Institute in Palestine. Ages 7–9.

May 15, 2024
In this tale translated from Spanish, a young girl's decision to mend holes leading to a mysterious world has unintended consequences. Leilah is always losing her belongings--her scarf, her umbrella, her keys (three times!). Mama chides Leilah for not being more careful, but Leilah can explain. Existing alongside Leilah's beautiful, orderly village is another, chaotic world called the Other Side. It's an enigmatic place accessible only through dreams, with "landscapes full of knots" and bizarre creatures. Things disappear through holes to the Other Side, Leilah tells Mama, and if she could only mend them, nothing would ever disappear again. Although sewing up the holes prevents objects from falling through, Leilah also inadvertently creates a smokelike fog that stifles both worlds. Undoing her stitches, Leilah receives an unexpected gift and promises Mama to find another way to keep track of her possessions. Inspired by a traditional hand-embroidered shawl that she received on a visit to Palestine, Isol's eye-catching, unique illustrations feature photographs of its patterns; the outward-facing side is the backdrop to Leilah's village, while the reverse sets the scene for the Other Side. Earth-toned, woven fabrics in tans and greens sometimes serve as backgrounds but are also snipped into pieces onto which characters are drawn, providing contrast to the predominantly black and red scarf. Isol concludes this clever, playful tale with an epilogue vindicating Leilah. Characters have skin the color of the page. Whimsical and imaginative. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-9)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2024
Originally conceived for a project produced by the Palestinian Museum and inspired by the traditional embroidery of Palestinian culture, this Argentinian import honors unseen worlds. The mixed-media art relies primarily on highly textured and detailed embroidery to tell the tale of a girl whose mother scolds her for losing things, such as her keys. Leilah, like her grandmother, is sensitive to the dreamlike existence of the "Other Side and its mysterious inhabitants." Isol depicts this as a world embroidered in red thread, and superimposed upon it in blue threads are the creatures that live there; delightfully, she also depicts the back sides of these embroidered cloths to emphasize the "much stranger" other world "just behind ours." She renders the startling, eye-catching forest with black threads, for example. Leilah knows that the holes that lead to the Other Side, including one in the forest, are responsible for her lost items, so she sews up the holes with a needle and thread -- which leads to unexpected consequences. Isol tells the story in four parts and an epilogue, the last introducing the otherworldly Lexis and Rolf, who find a surprising use for the lost keys. A richly imagined tale told with loving care. Julie Danielson

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

June 1, 2024
Grades K-3 Multi-award-winning Isol weaves a wondrous fantasy world in this picture book of an orderly village inventively set on an embroidered shawl: red cross-stitched triangles are houses, a row of X's defines the river, and townspeople are ink-lined on snippets of fabric. As her mom fusses at her for losing her keys, Leilah is sure the answer lies in the Other Side, a land of dreams where twisted knots and dangling threads outline strange creatures. Though a dense fog means she has to undo her carefully stitched-up holes between the two worlds, Leilah is entranced by a gift from the forbidden forest. Aglow with orange stitches, a mysterious ball leads her, dreaming, into the Other Side, where she thrills to see the summer solstice celebration. An epilogue reveals two chimerical creatures: a five-legged lynx admires the fancy headgear chosen by elephant friend Rolf, revealed to be Leilah's missing keys. Brilliantly realized, this is a charming, unusual fable of two worlds, each the reverse of the other but ever in balance.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2024
Originally conceived for a project produced by the Palestinian Museum and inspired by the traditional embroidery of Palestinian culture, this Argentinian import honors unseen worlds. The mixed-media art relies primarily on highly textured and detailed embroidery to tell the tale of a girl whose mother scolds her for losing things, such as her keys. Leilah, like her grandmother, is sensitive to the dreamlike existence of the "Other Side and its mysterious inhabitants." Isol depicts this as a world embroidered in red thread, and superimposed upon it in blue threads are the creatures that live there; delightfully, she also depicts the back sides of these embroidered cloths to emphasize the "much stranger" other world "just behind ours." She renders the startling, eye-catching forest with black threads, for example. Leilah knows that the holes that lead to the Other Side, including one in the forest, are responsible for her lost items, so she sews up the holes with a needle and thread -- which leads to unexpected consequences. Isol tells the story in four parts and an epilogue, the last introducing the otherworldly Lexis and Rolf, who find a surprising use for the lost keys. A richly imagined tale told with loving care.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)