Circle Unbroken [Paperback]

As she teaches her granddaughter to sew a traditional sweetgrass basket, a grandmother weaves a story, going back generations to her grandfather's village in faraway Africa. There, as a boy, he learned to make baskets so tightly woven they could hold the rain. Even after being stolen away to a slave ship bound for America, he remembers what he learned and passes these memories on to his children - as they do theirs.

In Margot Theis Raven'sCircle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and Its People, a grandmother shares family stories with her granddaughter while demonstrating the techniques of making the famous Gullah coiled basket. In West Africa, Grandmother's old-timey grandfather lived on the riverbanks near rice fields where he learned the art of weaving baskets. When grandfather was captured and transported to South Carolina as a slave, he continued sewing baskets in the traditional way. Today, tourists to the Sea Islands in South Carolina can buy baskets woven by descendants of slaves brought to America. An author's note provides excellent details about the history of the sweetgrass coil or Gullah basket, its history on Africa's West Coast, and its journey to the Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia.

In teaching her granddaughter the craft of sewing baskets, a grandmother tells the story of their ancestors and passes along memories of struggle and freedom.

Gracefully constructed...as intricate as the baskets and the history to which it pays tribute. Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Clear poetic words and exquisite watercolor illustrations depict how the small circular basket holds the big circle of African-American history....Lewis' astonishing pictures combine the panoramas of upheaval and war with portraits of individuals in small circles weaving and passing on their heritage in craft and story. Booklist, Starred Review

Raven's text masterfully frames several hundred years of African-American history l“+