An intrepid girl discovers the value of the tangled, knotty side of life in Loose Threads, a picture book inspired by a Palestinian scarf, from Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Isol.
Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel
Leilah lives in an idyllic village, where everything has its place. It’s as beautiful and perfect as the scenes in her grandmother’s embroidery. But some believe that just on the flipside of this orderly village lies the Other Side—a messy and wild world, filled with merry inhabitants and strange beasts. Leilah often visits just such a place in her dreams.
Lila is constantly losing things, and when her mom demands an explanation, Lila decides that her lost possessions must be falling down into the Other Side. And so, she declares that all she has to do to fix things is mend the holes between her world and the Other Side. It’s a genius idea—nothing will ever go missing again! But as Lila soon learns, some holes don’t need sewing up, and mending can also mean a suffocating shutting out…
Inspired by one of her favorite scarves, here Isol spins a tale that celebrates the different worlds that are all part of life’s rich tapestry.
Praise
Selected for the Children Book Council’s Summer 2024 Showcase: Imagination Celebration
“Existing alongside Leilah’s beautiful, orderly village is another, chaotic world called the Other Side... 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... [A] clever, playful tale... Whimsical and imaginative.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Brilliantly realized, this is a charming, unusual fable of two worlds, each the reverse of the other but ever in balance.”
—Booklist
"An embroidered shawl’s underside represents an alternate realm in this inventive picture book... Celebrates the fascinating reverse side of intricate stitching patterns."
—Publishers Weekly
“The celebrated Argentine picture-book creator Isol presents 7- to 9-year-olds with parallel realms in Loose Threads, an illustrated story that plays out on either side of an embroidered cloth. On one side houses and flowers appear in neat stitching, while the obverse shows a mess of knots and dangling threads. On the tidy side lives a little girl named Leilah who’s forever losing things—keys, gloves, colored pencils… An affectionate coda, meanwhile, reveals that the dwellers on the fabric’s untidy side are indeed as fantastical as Leilah could hope and that they enjoy putting her ‘gifts’ to stylish use.”
—Wall Street Journal
“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… Isol depicts a world embroidered in red thread… 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… A richly imagined tale told with loving care.”
—The Horn Book, Julie Danielson
“The images created through the wear and tear of this scarf are the perfect landscape for creativity and imagination in this sweet story that sparks curiosity. This book is beautifully illustrated and relatable for young children with a strong sense of wonder! Recommended for those who like inventive, unique books.”
—Youth Services Book Review, Marí Valiente, The Park School Library (Brookline, MA)
“Isol is a great Argentinian illustrator, a very well-known and beloved artist who is constantly challenging herself and her readers… A wondrous invitation to think about life’s different sides.”
—Geekdad, Mariana Ruiz
