Skip to main content

The Knitting of Elizabeth Amelia

By



The Knitting of Elizabeth Amelia
by Patricia Lee Guach
ill. by Barbara Lavallee
New York : Henry Holt, 2009; unpaged picture book

Elizabeth Amelia is lovingly knitted out of some wool yarn. This makes her very soft and bouncy. As she grows up she is popular for this very reason. Eventually she marries a man (not knitted from wool). Elizabeth Amelia wants some children but she can't find the perfect yarn to knit them with. So what else is there to do, but start unraveling her own leg to create her first child. The second, third and fourth children use up pretty much all of her legs. So what is left of her just sits around on the couch, hugging her children. Her husband points out that their children need a mother that can get up and do things, "You're nothing but a pillow". Startled into action, Elizabeth Amelia begins reconstructing herself. With the help of her children she undergoes an extreme makeover and is once again able to dance with her husband.
Let's just say I found this story rather odd. The idea of a doll being able to grow up and get married is a little creepy. The fact that she gets married and has children, even more so. I wonder if the author is trying to say something along the lines of mothers give so much of themselves to their children that they tend to neglect themselves. While this might be a true statement in some cases, I still find the execution of the idea strange. Why couldn't all of the characters have been dolls?
Labels:

Comments

loo said…
Two words describe this book: disturbing and creepy!
February 8, 2010 at 6:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more