The Patch in the Middle
The idea: the whole is all its patches.
Read it
Five nights, one book
Little children love the same story again. Read this one five nights running, with a different job each night.
- listen.
- say the last words.
- join in the refrains.
- stop and ask what comes next.
- tell it to a toy.
Who is in this book
-
Bà Tư The grandmother who sews and lets the children count from VầnTots -
Kerf Straight cuts down and across make a big square into equal patches from PatchPals -
Miro & Moro Matching strips are the same size and lie side by side from PatchPals -
Dreamer Sews the outside and daydreams past the middle (the mistake that grows up with the reader) from ArrayPals -
Tí a child of the Green Notices small things; says "again" -
Tila The whole is all its patches from PatchPals
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?
True
- A square cut into three across and three down makes nine equal patches.
- Quilts made from equal squares sewn in rows are a very old way of making a big cloth from small pieces. Source
Stretched
- Tí sews the middle patch in. What we simplified: A four-year-old can help push a big needle with a grown-up's hand on it, but the grown-up does most of the sewing.
Made up
- The quilt and the sewing chair are made up. Tila, Kerf and Miro & Moro come from PatchPals, Dreamer from ArrayPals, and Bà Tư from VanTots.
Tell it back
Tell the story to a toy, or to a grown-up. When you have, the grown-up taps the button, and a paper quilt square to colour, cut once down and once across goes on your belt.
On your belt: a paper quilt square to colour, cut once down and once across.
Your belt lives on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ring the hammer for someone
Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.