News and Reviews for the Youth Librarian is pleased to present this interview with Patricia Polacco, whose new book The Blessing Cup will be released on August 27th.
What does it mean to you to see a 25th anniversary edition of The Keeping Quilt published?
It is still amazing to me that people want to read my stories, but this story is so special to our family, I am so thankful that this particular story has endured. I hope to see more editions with more added to the book, and I actually hope that when I pass, my children put the last "chapter" to the book showing that even after me, the quilt will move on through the family.
What is different about this anniversary edition? Has the original story been changed or new material added?
The original story is still the same; we just add "chapters" to the anniversary editions. This one will show me using it in school programs, my son's wedding, my daughter's wedding to her partner, and I even foresaw a grandbaby and drew that in the book . . . and it is actually happening as we speak. My son and his wife are expecting a baby in November.
Do you still have the original Keeping Quilt?
I do have the quilt, the original, but it is on loan to the Mazza Institute at the University of Findlay in Ohio. They also have all the illustrations and we will be having a gala event in November to open the show. It is on permanent loan to the museum, but if my children want or need the original quilt for anything, they have that right to use it, but technically the quilt actually belongs to my daughter Traci as I presented it to her years ago.
Why did you decide to write The Blessing Cup, a companion to The Keeping Quilt, so many years later?
I had always known this story and Paula Wiseman, my editor with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing asked if I knew the back story about how and why my family left the homeland. Thus The Blessing Cup was created.
Tell us about the art style you used for The Blessing Cup to make the books look similar.
We wanted to mirror the style of The Keeping Quilt, so I did the pencil drawings with the cup and a few other key "characters" in color. I have always loved to do fine pencil drawings so this has allowed me to use that technique once more.
The Blessing Cup was originally part of a china tea set. Do you still have the Blessing Cup in your family?
Yes I still have the cup. In fact as a result of the Loma Prieta Earthquake in California in October of 1989, the cup as well as other pieces of china, crashed out of the cupboard and split in two. I was so upset until it was pointed out to me that now I don't have to choose which child to give it to, they could each have a piece.
Both The Keeping Quilt and The Blessing Cup beautifully show the importance of family traditions and passing heirlooms down from one generation to the next. Do you hope your books will inspire readers to start their own family traditions?
Oh yes, I truly hope it helps create that tradition in families today. It helps weave stories into tradition and connect the generations across time. Since the book was released years ago I have received countless pictures of people making their own quilts, and classes making quilts as well as people showing me other items, such as tea sets and artwork, that they are now starting the tradition of passing it to the next generation. But as important as the artifact itself is or will be, it is the story that will be passed as well. We heard the same stories over and over and over again which is why they have stuck so well.
The Blessing Cup stresses that a family doesn't need lots of money to be rich. In your opinion, why is this such an important message for young readers today?
It worries me that the world is heading towards materialism as its goal. Kids and parents are being sold everything. Advertisements are everywhere. I wished we valued our inner voice as much . . . developing ones imaginations, a child's imagination. I see the computer and electronic devices distancing people while at the same time bringing people closer. Kids can't interrelate unless they are texting or messaging or whatever it is they do on their phones and devices. I see people in restaurants and airports and doctors offices all sitting with their families and none are talking with each other; they are ALL on their devices. I think this is a problem that we have yet to see the destructive effects on our society.
The Blessing Cup and The Keeping Quilt are stories from your mother's side of the family. Do you have plans to write a book about your father's family?
Yes! In fact I have just finished a story about the Irish side, my dad's side of the family called "Fiona's Lace". I will be working on other stories about his side. They were as lyrical and interesting and LOVED to tell stories as much as my mother's side. Show me an Irishman who can't tell a story.
What are you working on now?
I actually have a lot of stories coming out. I am working on a WWII story, we are thinking about me doing a series of Immigration stories, I am also working on a YA book. Another story I am working on is about my Drama Teacher and one about an English teacher I had. So there is always something in the works in one stage or another.
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