Today we get to share with you a beautiful new book that is fictional but based on some facts and real people. It is set in France during the reign of King Louis XIV in the Gobelin Manufactory. Therese Makes a Tapestry written by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs and illustrated by Rennee Graef shares the tale of a young girl, Therese, who lives with her family in the grounds of Gobelin.
Therese's dream is to make a tapestry in Gobelin for the king. Her dream however does not seem possible since at this time women are not allowed to weave in Gobelin. However with a painting her father gives her from his travels with the king, Therese is determined to make a tapestry as a gift for her father. With help from her brothers, mother and others she gathers the supplies she will need and proves her eldest brother wrong about her abilities. In fact he is so impressed with the outcome that he hangs her tapestry in the court yard when King Louis XIV is visiting. The king loves the tapestry and wants it. Therese is torn since it is a special gift for her father, but her other brother steps in and offers to make it in a larger scale for the king.
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| Chateau of Monceaux / Month of December Charles Le Brun [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Throughout the story there is woven a bit of French history as well as weaving vocabulary. The story itself is based on the real tapestry that was created at the Gobelins Manufactory called Chateau of Monceaux / Month of December (see photo above). It is a wonderful tale about a determined young girl who succeeds even when others doubt her ability. The book is full of gorgeous pictures that take you to Gobelins in the 1700s. They are colorful and full of life and feeling. The characters themselves are well developed and give the reader a sense of their personalities even in this short picture book.
To go along with this tale, we decided to pull out the loom I bought for Hazel ages ago but we had not opened yet.
She was home sick and really got to it. Pretty quickly she had done the above picture. By the end of the day with me doing some of it as well we got pretty far. In fact I stopped because we needed to decide about the next yarn to attach. She decided she did not want to make the wrist warmers the box talked about so we continued with the second skein of the same yarn.
She is saying how she loves weaving and is planning on bringing her loom to her grandmother's today. She is home sick again and I have to work. It was the perfect activity to go with the book. Our weaving is not as complex as Therese's but we are enjoying it.
For more weaving ideas check out: Weaving, Nature Weave, Navajo Weaving, and Paper Woven Basket. We hope you will check out this wonderful new book. We love the story and the beautiful pictures and highly recommend it!!
