Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

[add subject: refugees]In association with Amnesty International. A family searching for political and educational freedom instead finds itself in a society limited by conformity; but the mother takes boring, solid-color sweaters--offered only in green, orange, and gray--and makes fantastically patterned sweaters, inspiring others. Based on a family from dictator-led Portugal exiled in Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, the allegorical picture book features graphically strong three-color illustrations.

Kirkus Reviews

For political refugees, bringing something from the old country, even something as simple as color, is a way of remembering and retaining roots.An 8-year-old child narrates the story of a family's midnight flight from their home to a new land with a new language and schools. The buildings are gray boxes, and all the children wear monotone orange, green, or gray sweaters that are knit in one pattern. The mother, beset by the sameness, has a solution. She unravels the wool and mixes up the colors and stitches, knitting different and eye-catching designs. The small fashion statement catches on in the neighborhood, and soon knitting needles are busily clicking away at new sweaters. In her author's note, Cristina explains that she has based this story on a Portuguese family's 1960s flight from dictatorship to Communist European countries, where, unfortunately, they did not find freedom. While not as harrowing as many contemporary stories, this timely title gently introduces the trauma of exile to young readers and can lead to discussions and, hopefully, a better understanding of being uprooted. Kono's graphic designs on pale gray paper artfully capture the drabness of the new city and the varied patterns of the sweaters. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is included. A timely story of refugees and the strength of individuality over conformity. (foreword, maps) (Picture book. 5-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Produced in association with Amnesty International, this allegorical story follows a family that flees a -warm, sunny country- beset by vaguely described political troubles for a -clean and tidy- nation where -all the children go to school.- When buying sweaters for her children, the narrator-s mother realizes that only three colors are available: gray, green, and orange. -They look like an army marching in their uniforms,- she whispers to her husband. She then unravels the sweaters and combines the yarn to knit new ones in bold checks, zigzags, and stripes-surprising the town-s residents and starting a fashion trend. Except for a handful of pink-skinned children, Kono sticks to a limited palette of gray, green, orange, and black in her illustrations-blocky, screenprintlike images dotted with Xs, Os, and other characters that evoke knitting symbols. It-s a quiet and sensitively observed look at a family-s efforts to stay safe in uncertain times. An afterword reveals the story-s inspiration in

School Library Journal (Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 2-4 Loosely inspired by the experiences of real families fleeing dictatorship only to find continued oppression under Communism, this modern fable presents a hopeful twist by showing how art can inspire hope and change. The first person narration is direct, balancing a child's understanding with the heavy topic. "My parents worried so much that lines appeared on their foreheads. They said words I didn't understand. Words they whispered to each other, like: 'Ignorance.' 'Fear.' 'War.' 'Prison.' One day I heard them say, 'Exile.' The line on my father's forehead deepened. The next day we left before dawn." The family is pleased by the cleanliness and orderliness of life in their new country. But they soon notice that the only clothing options for children are gray, green, or orange sweaters. Mother begins to worry again as she sees children marching to school in an almost military formation with the same colors. Working with what's available, Mother hatches her plan. Unraveling sweaters for yarn, she recombines the colors in wild patternsstripes, zigzags, and squares. Others are inspired, and by spring the whole community has come together to create and share their wonderful variations. The blocky graphic illustrations limit the palette to orange, gray, green, and black, with a rosy pink for some characters' skin (others are orange or white), and incorporate symbols that can be found in a knitting pattern, creating lovely cohesion between plot and art. VERDICT A good choice to provoke discussion about freedom and oppression with older readers. Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN