Loose Threads by Isol
Every so often, an adult will sheepishly tell me that they “still read picture books.” To that I say: a good book is a good book! Read with abandon! You can find some of the most beautiful art and the most touching stories in picture books. I am hoping my review this month will aid in the unabashed search for great picture books.
Loose Threads is a book unlike any other that I have read. Isol Misenta (listed as Isol on the book jacket) was inspired by a gifted scarf to create an imaginative picture book about a seemingly forgetful little girl named Leila. Originally written in Spanish and translated by Lawrence Schimel, Loose Threads follows Leila, a girl who is always losing things. When her mother admonishes her to take better care of her belongings, Leila insists that it’s not her fault. On the other side of her beautiful village, there is another village. This other village is home to all her lost items. This reverse village is similar to hers, but everything is all jumbled and knotted up. Of course, no one has ever seen this place so the stories could be fictional, but Leila is convinced it’s real. What else could explain the sudden disappearance of so many of her things? Eventually, Leila decides to find this other world and solve the mystery of her lost things once and for all. But will she find what she is looking for? Will her attempts to solve a problem actually make things better?
The story itself is fun, but the illustration style is where Loose Threads really shines. Author/illustrator Isol photographed the gifted scarf, using the finished side as the backdrop of Leila’s world and the messy, back side as the Other Side that she goes in search of. When she seeks to repair the holes between worlds to stop losing her things, Isol uses stitched embroidery thread. Aside from Leila, her mother, and her grandmother, who are sketched directly onto the photo of the scarf, other characters are scribbled onto beige bits of paper and placed on top of the scarf.
This story reads like a fable, both in its off kilter explanation of everyday occurrences and in its creative explanation of an everyday phenomenon and its plucky and curious young hero. Loose Threads can be found in the fairy tale and fable section of the Children’s department and will find its most captive audience in elementary-aged readers and their families. Isol’s unique multimedia illustrations will likely encourage other similar art projects with the reader’s own beloved objects. I’ll see you in the Children’s Department–happy reading!
