#178 of 1001 · January 25, 2021

It’s shocking to consider how much children’s role in our society has changed in the last few centuries, and especially in the last few decades. Both for better and for worse, the onset of independence has become a much more gradual process as our culture’s view of youth has shifted. Books are a window through which modern children may catch a glimpse of just how different their lives would have been in earlier times. To that end, here is Pelle’s New Suit, a classic work by Elsa Beskow. A young boy named Pelle performs a series of errands and working trades in order to obtain a new suit of clothes: First, he shears his beloved lamb. Then he weeds his grandmother’s carrot patch while she cards the wool. He tends his other grandmother’s cows as she spins the wool into yarn. He rows a boat to the local store and buys turpentine for a painter who lets him purchase dye with the change, and he dyes the yarn himself. He cares for his baby sister while his mother weaves the yarn into cloth. And he takes hay, feeds pigs, and carries wood for a tailor who sews him pants, a jacket, and a waistcoat. Finally, his new suit is ready. All of the adults Pelle encounters treat him as an equal, respecting him as a group member fully capable of performing labor in exchange for their own. With straightforward language and soft, colorful illustrations, Beskow depicts the effort, thought, and care that goes into the tradition of textile craft and demonstrates the power of mutualistic support to create the bonds of a tight-knit community. #suit #wool #spinning #yarn #weaving #cloth #sewing #textile #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks