No comments about How Texts Teach What Readers Learn.

No comments about Popeye: The First Fifty Years.

1 comments about A Collector's Guide to Thimbles.

1. it's book about the collectors guide to thimble

1 comments about From Thimble To Gown a Manual of Sewing.

1. Classic Collectible Book of Instructions for Garment Construction.
   
   This dear old book was published in 1932, for use in high school and college home economics courses. In this modern era, many home economics subjects have been eliminated from our schools. Our modern ways seem to place a higher value on clothing and accessories that are mass-produced, have famous names or logos, and are sold in malls, online, or in specialty shops.
   
   "From Thimble to Gown" has survived for many years, first in the library of a public school, then as a forgotten discard due to age, then as an old volume rescued from a clean-out. It is a comprehensive work that covers twelve areas of garment construction process, from basic tools needed and their uses to the final touches of a well-made article of clothing.
   
   This book is a window into the past, at a time when fashion was not dictated by television or video stars, rock groups, and other celebrities. Most fashion icons then were more likely to be stage actresses, movie starlets, debutantes, or European royalty. Fashion was dictated by how well one appeared in an ensemble that was carefully tailored, on a body that was healthy and well-groomed. Life then moved along at a more leisurely pace, and women valued an appearance that was lady-like, in fashions that projected that kind of genteel image.
   
   There are 295 excellent illustrations in the little book, fine drawings that illustrate the different techniques of garment construction. There is basic information on color, and a history of fashion, as well as a brief illustrated history of the early tools of garment construction.
   
   As an older person who has taught sewing in secondary school, I find this book fascinating. As one who enjoys working with fabric and fashion, I find the book a joy to read simply for a relaxing time of nostalgia. Perhaps there are others who would enjoy it for these reasons, or for different ones. The book is a treasure.

1 comments about Thimble of Soil: A Womans Quest for Land (Hubalek, Linda K. Trail of Thread Series.).

1. What an inspiring book. The facts and history of our country are extraordinary. I could have never lived as Margaret lived, what a strong woman. She was also a quilter, which I find important, since I am also! It was inspiring to read in a diary format. It seemed so real.

1 comments about The Story of the Thimble: An Illustratied Guide for Collectors (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. Fantastic reference book. I use it every day and regard it as an important source when looking for thimbles to add to my collection. Highly recommended for all sewing enthusiasts.

5 comments about Antique and Collectible Thimbles and Accessories.

1. Those with Ms. Mathis' 1986 book should consider her revised values book of 1997. Same photos in the same order, but 1997 values. The thimble market is booming and a knowledgable thimble collector can reap great finds, and avoid reproductions and the greedy seller. A must for the library of EVERY thimble collector.



2. I love this book! Mrs. Mathis has written a book that is very helpful to those of us who search auctions and flea markets for thimbles. The value guide in the book has helped me in knowing how much I should or should not be paying. The pictures of her collection are beautiful and well done. I should be so lucky to have a beautiful collection such as hers. I highly recommend this book.



3. The photography is so well done, that it makes it easy to identify even the slightest variation in design from one thimble to the next. The value guide is helpful, but not all of us want to sell our thimbles, we just want to know a little more about their history!



4. A great help to me with my thimble collection. I take this book with me when ever I go thimble hunting. Beautiful photography!



5. The first book on thimbles and accessories I purchased. I still enjoy thumbing the pages, especially looking at the wonderful photographs. The section on makers marks is particularly useful for identification either prior to or after purchase of an item. Highly recommended to anyone interested in collecting sewing implements.

5 comments about The Mary Frances Sewing Book: Adventures Among the Thimble People.

1. Just purchased this book to give as a Christmas present for my Mom. During the summer and after school, Mom looks after two of my neices that are 5 and 8 years old.

   The book is softcovered, consisting of 280 pages and the illustrations within are fully black and white. I like this book as the patterns are full sized and "reads" extremely well for a child, with directions clearly written.

   I rate this book 4 stars because the 16" doll pattern IS NOT included as a project with the book. Major bummer! The 16" companion doll pattern named "Mary Marie" Making Memories (designed by Ellen Thompson) must be purchased separately. I've recently located such pattern and it was hard to come by. (The Mary Marie doll is also sold as a porcelain reproduction and she is beautiful.)

   Truly, I believe this book makes an excellent tool to create beautiful home spun gifts and memories when used by a loving adult (Mother/Nana) and child. What a wonderful way to learn to sew!




2. This book is essential for all little girls (and not so little girls!) learning to sew. There has yet to be a childs sewing book as well done as Mary Frances and the Timble People.

   If you think this book, written in the Edwardian era, would probably be too hard or full of too many confusing terms for a child, think again! The projects are direct, simple, fast, and most of all, fun. With parental assistance, children as young as seven could easily work through this book, and very young children could enjoy the story by itself without even doing the projects. The doll patterns are charming and work up quickly, the style simple and straightforward, and the little story about the 'Timble People' is utterly adorable.

   16 inch dolls are hard to come by, and I know this is one drawback of the book. However, you can easily re trace the patterns to fit an 18 inch ('American Girl' or 'Gotz' doll.) Take your pattern peice(s) and retrace on another peice of paper, adding one inch to every side. Follow instructions as usual. For loose fitting patterns like the apron, the pinafore, etc, this wasn't even nessisary.

   An all around wonderful book!




3. The Mary Frances Sewing Book was originally published in 1913 and recently reprinted in the late 1990's. An Edwardian girl staying with grandma for a few months during the summer meets the "Thimble People" (needles, scissors, pincushion, etc.) who engage her in weekly sewing lessons. The reader can work through the lessons, from learning stitches to sewing doll clothes with Mary Frances as directions with illustrations are given throughout the text.
   
   One practical aspect of this book is that basic hand sewing stitches are taught with descriptions and illustrations. I found this part very educational since the only sewing stitch I learned in childhood is the "running stitch". I had no idea there were so many stitches for hand sewing that can be applied to hand sewing garments. I also learned the strawberry tassle on my tomato pin cushion is an "Emery Bag", which can be used for cleaning needles as you pull them through the little bag.
   
   If you purchase a copy of this book sold in its original condition, it comes with patterns to make the garments Mary Frances makes for her doll. However, based on illustrations and the time period, Mary Frances' doll is a 16 inch doll with a composition body and a porcelain head. While the fashions are appropriate for this kind of doll, they are not necessarily appropriate for a modern doll. There are many more current pattern books and pattern sources to sew for both modern dolls and antique/antique reproduction dolls. The only use I would see for the patterns is for use by the individual who would like to specifically work through the book.
   
   That said, I loved this book! I am not going to stop sewing doll clothes on my machine or start dressing my modern doll in Edwardian fashions. I loved this book for what it is-an example of structured sewing lessons used by girls 100 years ago, when girls practiced their skills on doll clothes but would one day use them for sewing and mending their family's clothes.
   
   I also enjoyed the story "sewn" into the lessons. The talking scissors and pincushion, etc. argue with each other like siblings; making the characters more interesting and adding a bit of spice to the story. The sewing bird talks in rhyme; carrying the text along quickly. Mary Frances misses her family while at grandma's house, and has a few other brief adventures inside and outside of her sewing lessons. If you enjoy sewing for dolls and have a taste for a nostalgic, old-fashioned childhood, then this book will be priceless!



4. I had the copy of this book that was purchased for my mother in 1920 and I used it as a nine year old to learn to sew - almost 50 years ago. My doll may have had somewhat dated clothes, but part of what I learned was how to alter the looks to make them more up to date. My one disappointment with the paperpack edition is that the original had tissue patterns that could be removed and used along with a paper gatefold that could be traced. My original still has many of the tissue patterns. None-the-less, the paperback is still a fabulous book to teach children hand sewing.



5. I'm glad I didn't buy this book new, as I would have been seriously annoyed to find that this fairly expensive paperback is neither remarkably attractive, nor very practical, since it does not include the crucial patterns. I wanted THOSE patterns to re-clothe a 1914 16" doll whose original clothes were sewn by my grandmother around 1915. In this edition of the Mary Frances Book, the pictures of individual stitches are quite small, and I'm not sure that anybody could learn these classic stitches from this book alone.
   
   The book seems to be a re-issue for those who simply want to re-experience earlier readings of it - it does *not* fulfil the purpose that the original did.

No comments about Betsy Ross and the Silver Thimble (Ready-to-Read. Level 2).

5 comments about Thimble Summer.

1. When I was a little girl, one of the chapters in this book appeared in a volume of the Childcraft Books. The chapter was "Locked In" where the girls have to spend the night in the library. I absolutely loved the story but it wasn't until I was an adult and had daughters of my own the I found this book and was able to read the whole thing to my children. The book is timeless even though it is set in a much simpler time. I highly recommend it to children and adults alike!!!



2. The Newbery Award winning books of the 1930s went through an interesting phase that was never again to be repeated. Starting with "Caddie Woodlawn" (1935), continuing with "Roller Skates" (1936), and capitulating with the delightful "Thimble Summer" (1938) these books all followed spunky independent females with little to no regard for the traditional roles women had always carried. But while "Caddie" and "Roller Skates" were period pieces that ultimately ended with the girls giving in to society's restraints, "Thimble Summer" trumps this trend. In it, we have a farm girl named Garnet who has a load of exciting summer adventures and who ends her tale wearing sailor pants doing hand stands over and over again in a pasture.

   The tale of "Thimble Summer" begins when Garnet finds a silver thimble in a nearby dried lakebed. According to Garner, the summer's wonderful aspects only take place after this key event. Her father receives a loan from the government allowing him to build a new barn. Her family meets and virtually adopts an adorable homeless boy. Garnet shows her favorite pig at the state fair and wins a blue ribbon. All these events are told with a marvelous simplicity and a real sense of being there with Garnet. From the very first page of this book, you notice the author's excellent writing style. About the heat of the summer Enright writes, "It was like being inside of a drum. The sky like a bright skin was stretched tight above the valley, and the earth too, was tight and hard with heat". You're in safe hands with this writer. Don't believe me? Here's another wonderful descriptive passage. "Her shoes hurt her; and with aching feet and her bundle and empty pocketbook she felt like an old, old woman coming home from seeing grandchildren who didn't love her".

   But observe this book within its 1938 context. Here's a girl that does a boy's chores. We never see her darn socks or cook, though she's often seen working in the fields. She's nine or so, so she doesn't go about falling in love (not even with the adorable homeless boy). She wears pants most of the time, is never badgered by either parent to be more feminine and (the coup de grace) at the end of the story she plans to someday have a farm of her own. Fabulous. Then there are those wonderful little details about the past. Kids reading this book may not get the references to G-men, Zeppelin shaped balloons, or the running boards of cars. Fortunately these spots of the past are either
   self-evident or mercilessly scant.

   Is the book flawless then? Almost. There are a couple tiny flaws here and there. The line drawings accompanying the text (drawn by the author herself) are magnificent. Unfortunately, there's one time they belie the text. If you've a child who's overweight in any way, this may not be the best book to show them. While Garnet's best female friend Citronella is continually called "fat", in the book's pictures she's the most average kid you've ever seen (compared to the waiflike Garnet, of course). Any child with body image problems is going to see the pictures, read the text, and come up with some pretty heart-wrenching conclusions. If Garnet is normal then... You get the picture.

   I don't really understand why kids don't know this book better. Anyone who's ever wanted to live on a farm in the country would enjoy it. Anyone who's ever wanted to hitchhike like Garnet, spend a night in a library, or swim rivers on their own would like it. It's a pip, this one. It's got moxie. Don't forgo the pleasures of "Thimble Summer" simply because it's old. You'll be missing out on more than you could have possibly imagined.




3. this book is a great book
   it deserves its newberry medal. not to many people are intrested in the title,but the inside is great. once you read it you wont want to put it down. it holds fantastic description and events. its amusing because its fun imagining what its like to be Garnet. this is the best book i've read in years.



4. This is my very favorite book for young girls. First and most importantly, it is really fun to read. I can just picture an 8-year-old girl reading this during summer vacation. After reading this book, how could a kid not fall in love with reading books for recreation? It is loaded with thrilling adventure. Even though the main character is a girl, she is not a "girly girl" at all. She is an outdoor farm girl who loves nature and has an active curiosity about the world around her. The characters are lovely, and lovingly portrayed. The sketches of Garnet's pesky younger brother, restless older brother, mother and father stressed out by trying to make a farm work at the end of the depression and drought, her friend Citronella, and the people of Garnet's farm community are amazing writing and enjoyable, educational reading. There are many interesting stories about people who Garnet meets during her beautiful and exciting summer. Citronella's grandmother tells a story about growing up as a settler which is not just interesting because it is about pioneer life, meeting Indians, and her childhood adventures, it may also encourage young readers to find out about their own grandparent's stories. The account of the family firing limestone to build a new barn is fascinating, and the family meets and adopts a wonderful boy who they encounter while spending the night minding the kiln. His story really brings home the realities of the depression, when adults and children travelled the rails and backroads of America to find work and food. The contrast between Garnet, who loves the land, her older brother, who has seen the stress his father goes through to wring his living from it and wants to get away, and the young hobo who has experienced the wider world and loves the steadiness and bounty of the farm are deeper elements to the story. The story of farm life, weather, and nature is wonderful, and I am sure many, many children have fallen in love with nature and reading from this classic book.



5. This is a book that, while written in the late thirties, possesses a timeless quality. The imagery is sublime, especially in the useage of simile and metaphor. The story is uncomplicated, like life in the midwest countryside, but uniquely eventful at the same time. It is a lovely book, and very well written.