Title: Dia's Story Cloth: The Hmong People's Journey of Freedom
Author: Dia Cha
Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.
Genre: Non-Fiction
Number of Pages: 21
Discovery of Book: Searching the bookshelves
Reading Level: Lexile Level- 1050
Awards: Book's Link, Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children's books. Elementary School Library Collection, Horn Book, Publisher's Weekly, School's Library Journal, Wilson's Children
Summary: Dia's Story Cloth is the story of the emigration and immigration of the Hmong People over time. A long time ago, the Hmong people were chased from China when the government wanted them to change the way they lived. The Hmong moved throughout southeast Asia; many to Laos. Eventually Loas became filled with warfare, causing the killing of many Hmong people. Overtime the Hmong escaped to America, where they started their lives over once again. All of their history is kept on quilts, as Hmong women are gifted in needlepoint. The ancestors of the Hmong are able to have a constant reminder of the trials and tribulations their people have suffered every time they look down at one of the beautiful quilts covering their beds.
Personal Connection: This story stood out to me in numerous ways. One of the most powerful ideas that struck me was keeping a time line of history on a quilt. The book does a great job of giving a plethora of information about the Hmong and its craft, stating that girls as young as four begin watching their mothers quilt. By the time they are 10, the girls know elaborate stitches that help them create these time capsules. I found this idea of history keeping to be extremely powerful because not only is it written down, but it would most likely need to be retold orally in order to get the gist of each of the symbols on the quilt. This could lead to a long concrete and oral history for the Hmong people.
Classroom Usage: Dia's Story Cloth is at a third grade reading level, allowing most middle schoolers to be able to comprehend this book by themselves. Considering the story of the Hmong people is not often told, Dia's Story Cloth would be a great introduction of showing the struggle these people went through. On top of using this book to learn about another time period and classifying the Hmongs struggle as a holocaust, the students could learn a lot about family story telling traditions. The teacher could begin the discussion that the Hmong people use quilt making to retell their family's history. How do each of their families retell stories? After a brief discussions about traditions, the teacher could use this time to have students write an informative essay about how to retell a family story the best way. Furthermore, as a final project for the "What is a "holocaust"?" unit, the students could make a story quilt of the events of the time period they researched. Thusly, the students would be able to use a tradition from a specific culture to explain what happened during the potential holocaust they studied.
Author: Dia Cha
Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.
Genre: Non-Fiction
Number of Pages: 21
Discovery of Book: Searching the bookshelves
Reading Level: Lexile Level- 1050
Awards: Book's Link, Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children's books. Elementary School Library Collection, Horn Book, Publisher's Weekly, School's Library Journal, Wilson's Children
Summary: Dia's Story Cloth is the story of the emigration and immigration of the Hmong People over time. A long time ago, the Hmong people were chased from China when the government wanted them to change the way they lived. The Hmong moved throughout southeast Asia; many to Laos. Eventually Loas became filled with warfare, causing the killing of many Hmong people. Overtime the Hmong escaped to America, where they started their lives over once again. All of their history is kept on quilts, as Hmong women are gifted in needlepoint. The ancestors of the Hmong are able to have a constant reminder of the trials and tribulations their people have suffered every time they look down at one of the beautiful quilts covering their beds.
Personal Connection: This story stood out to me in numerous ways. One of the most powerful ideas that struck me was keeping a time line of history on a quilt. The book does a great job of giving a plethora of information about the Hmong and its craft, stating that girls as young as four begin watching their mothers quilt. By the time they are 10, the girls know elaborate stitches that help them create these time capsules. I found this idea of history keeping to be extremely powerful because not only is it written down, but it would most likely need to be retold orally in order to get the gist of each of the symbols on the quilt. This could lead to a long concrete and oral history for the Hmong people.
Classroom Usage: Dia's Story Cloth is at a third grade reading level, allowing most middle schoolers to be able to comprehend this book by themselves. Considering the story of the Hmong people is not often told, Dia's Story Cloth would be a great introduction of showing the struggle these people went through. On top of using this book to learn about another time period and classifying the Hmongs struggle as a holocaust, the students could learn a lot about family story telling traditions. The teacher could begin the discussion that the Hmong people use quilt making to retell their family's history. How do each of their families retell stories? After a brief discussions about traditions, the teacher could use this time to have students write an informative essay about how to retell a family story the best way. Furthermore, as a final project for the "What is a "holocaust"?" unit, the students could make a story quilt of the events of the time period they researched. Thusly, the students would be able to use a tradition from a specific culture to explain what happened during the potential holocaust they studied.
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