Dia's Story Cloth

by Dia Cha

Other authorsChiie Thao Cha (Illustrator), Nhia Thao Cha (Illustrator)
Paperback, 1998

Status

Available

Publication

Lee & Low Books (1998), Edition: Reprint, 24 pages

Library's review

"A folk art masterpiece from a Southeast Asian culture stands at the center of this thoughtful book. Intricately composed, painstakingly stitched by hand, the ""story cloth"" of the title was created by the author's aunt and uncle, Hmong who fled their native Laos for a refugee camp in Thailand.
Show More
The story cloth records their experiences-which are also the author's own. Using details from the cloth as illustrations, Cha retells her life story, a meeting of Hmong history and a classic American immigration tale. Now an anthropologist in Colorado, Cha spent her early years during the 1960s in a Hmong village in Laos, where her family worked long days growing rice and corn. War tore the country apart; Cha's father was killed and she and her mother made a dangerous escape to Thailand, emigrating to the United States in 1979. The text is subdued; it is the needlework that drives home the poignancy of this cataclysmic account. For advanced readers, a lengthy afterword, by Joyce Herold, Denver Museum of Natural History's curator of ethnology, sets out historical background and assesses the story cloth as an art form. Ages 6-up." publishers weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-880000-34-2
Show Less

Awards

Orbis Pictus Award (Recommended Title — 1997)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1996

ISBN

1880000636 / 9781880000632

Barcode

776
Page: 0.779 seconds