Rose Weaves a Garden by Rashin Kheiriyeh
ISBN: 0593705114
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads

Rose Weaves a Garden by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Rose Weaves a Garden is a beautifully written and illustrated story about a girl named Rose and the special relationship she has with her grandfather. Rose has always admired her Baba’s talent and skill with weaving and hand making rugs. Her Baba joyfully agrees to teach her and she’s astonished by how fast his hands can move. Day by day they work together on a rug that’s as beautiful as their gardens—but one day her Baba becomes ill and can’t work on the rug any more. Rose takes over and her hands move faster and faster as she learns. After a while Baba is feeling better and they finish the rug together. Not only is the story touching and has great representation of a positive grandparent-grandchild relationship but also highlights the path of learning and growth mindset. At the end Rose sees her hands moving faster than his as he’s recovering from his illness and she’s started to become more confident and weaving and knotting. The author’s note in the beginning explains that the story was inspired by her own grandfather in Iran and how she learned to make rugs from him. Her illustrations were inspired by Persian and Oriental rugs and that definitely comes through on the pages. The colors are striking, the illustrations are stunning and engaging, and it really draws us into Rose’s world to see it so colorfully drawn. I would recommend this for Kindergarten through forth grade and definitely rate it five stars! I would recommend it for cream of the crop as well.

Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner