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Sakina is an embroidery artist growing up in the shanty town of Indian Nairobi, a railroad settlement in British East Africa in the early 1900s. At home there are many storytellers like her stepmother, grandfather and uncle whose stories blend into histories of India and East Africa that flare her child's imagination. In her tormented married life, while becoming a woman, Sakina finds comfort in the art of the beadwork of the Maasai.Bead Bai is one woman's story inspired by lives of Asian African women who sorted out, arranged and generally looked after huge quantities of ethnic beads in urban and isolated rural parts of the British East African Empire. The availability of wide varieties of beads and colours from the entrepreneurial Indian bead merchant reaching out to the most distant communities, heightened diverse vernacular expressions of body décor. Often it was the Bead Bai - the merchant's wife, mother and daughter, who handled beads that today comprise singularly the most significant material for maintenance of this feminine and indigenous art heritage of East Africa. This is a historical novel drawn from domestic and community lives evolving around women's art. Both are of considerable social and artistic values among two culturally unalike people living side by side as separate yet inter-reliant societies on the savannah. One object is the bandhani shawl of the Satpanth Ismailis, a trading settler Asian African community adhering austerely to a distinct faith tradition rooted in Sufism and Vedic beliefs that imbibed Sakina's spiritual life. The other is the emankeeki, a beaded neck to chest ornament of the Maasai, a pastoralist African people to whom the savannah is the ancestral home and source of their art, spirituality and well-being that Sakina came to value as a part her own life.Note: From the 1970s following the expulsion of Asians from Uganda, Satpanth Ismailis from East Africa began coming to the West, particularly to Canada, in large numbers. Many Bead Bais came with their families to the new country. Some lived through their senior years with their sons and daughters, and some died in nursing homes. Today their descendents live across the provinces of Canada and the greater Asian African diaspora.
Exciting, productive connections with authors, illustrators, and storytellers are at your fingertips with this resource. Unlike other author visit guides, this book goes beyond nuts-and-bolts planning to how to create the best possible encounters between students and authors. Successful visits in real space and in cyberspace are described, giving you specific ideas of the many ways to connect with and create meaningful links between bookpeople and children. Choosing the right guest, guidelines for successful visits, making curriculum connections, using e-mail to connect with bookpeople, live chats in virtual space, taking advantage of ITB and satellite technology, and using such props as realia and curriculum guides are some of the topics covered. Lists of author/illustrator web pages and managed Internet sites for author interaction are included.
The stories told by these two talented men of the Upper Sioux Community in Mni Sota Makoce--Minnesota--bring people together, impart values and traditions, deliver heroes, reconcile, reveal place, and entertain.
This gorgeous and empowering picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Evan Turk paints the portrait of Marietta Barovier, the groundbreaking Renaissance artisan who helped shape the future of Venetian glassmaking. Marietta and her family lived on the island of Murano, near Venice, as all glassmakers did in the early Renaissance. Her father, Angelo Barovier, was a true maestro, a master of glass. Marietta longed to create gorgeous glass too, but glass was men’s work. One day her father showed her how to shape the scalding-hot material into a work of art, and Marietta was mesmerized. Her skills grew and grew. Marietta worked until she created her own unique glass bead: the rosetta. Small but precious, the beautiful beads grew popular around the world and became as valuable as gold. The young girl who was once told she could not create art was now the woman who would leave her mark on glasswork for centuries to come.
Kesar’s baby sister Kamal will not sleep. Their entire village in the Great Rann of Kutch is kept awake by the infant’s cries and her parents are exhausted. When Kesar and Kamal’s ba comes to visit, her stories give Kesar a wonderful idea. Perhaps what Kesar needs to put her baby sister to sleep is a little bit of desert magic! A vibrant celebration of traditional artisans from India, this picture book is a sweet sibling bedtime story at heart, featuring a big sister who figures out how to care for her baby sister with some help from her grandmother’s lovingly made gifts. "Set in the Kutch region of India, the bright colors, intricate patterns, and delicate details of Indian attire and architecture are standout features." -- Foreword Reviews (Starred)
Unleash your inner designer with "Wearable Wonders," a captivating journey into the world of DIY wearables. Whether you're a seasoned crafter or a curious beginner, this eBook invites you to explore the endless possibilities of personal expression through handmade fashion. Dive into Chapter 1, where you'll discover the joy of creating your own wearable art. Trace the evolution of personal style and uncover how crafters have used wearables to tell their stories. From there, you'll be guided through the essentials of jewelry crafting. Explore the world of beads, wires, and chains, unlocking the secrets of transforming simple materials into stunning masterpieces. As you advance, learn intricate wire wrapping and experiment with natural elements and fabric to elevate your jewelry to new heights. In Chapter 4, transition from accessories to embellished clothing. Master techniques like appliqué and embroidery, and add a touch of sparkle with bejeweled styles. Delve into the transformative power of accessories in Chapter 5, where you'll design unique hats, bags, and more. Experience the enthusiasm of upcycling in Chapter 6, breathing new life into old garments and creating eco-friendly fashion statements. But "Wearable Wonders" doesn't stop at traditional craft techniques. Chapter 8 introduces you to the world of wearable tech, integrating LEDs and practical electronics into fashion-forward creations. Plus, discover how to use wearables as a form of activism or personal identity, and even turn your passion into profit with business tips in Chapter 10. With inspiration drawn from iconic designers and global styles, this eBook will fuel your creativity and celebrate the art of wearables. Whether you're creating for fun, profit, or philanthropy, "Wearable Wonders" is your ultimate guide to crafting fashion that's truly unique. Embrace your creativity and embark on a lifelong journey of expressive crafting.
Much of teachers’ attention these days is focused on having students read closely to ferret out the author’s intended meaning and the devices used to convey that meaning. But we cannot forget to guide students to have moving engagements with literature, because they need to make strong personal connections to books of merit if they are to become the next generation of readers: literate people with awareness of and concern for the diversity of human beings around them and in different times and places. Fortunately, guiding both students’ personal engagement with literature and their close reading to appreciate the author’s message and craft are not incompatible goals. This book enthusiastically and intelligently addresses both imperatives, first surveying what is gained when students are immersed in literature; then celebrating and explicating the main features of literature students need to understand to broaden their tastes and deepen their engagement, at the same time they meet external standards; then presenting a host of active methods for exploring all major genres of children’s books; and finally presenting suggestions for interdisciplinary teaching units grounded in literature. Created by noted leaders in the fields of children’s literature and literacy, the book is enlivened by recurring features such as suggested reading lists, issues for discussion, links to technology, and annotations of exemplary books.
