"We will make a quilt to help us always remember home," Anna's mother said. "It will be like heaving the family in backhome Russia dance around us at night. And so it was. From a basket of old clothes, Anna's babushka, Uncle Vladimir's shirt, Aunt Havalah's nightdress and an apron of Aunt Natasha's become The Keeping Quilt, passed along from mother to daughter for almost a century. For four generations the quilt is a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding canopy, and a blanket that welcomes babies warmly into the world. In strongly moving pictures that are as heartwarming as they are real, patricia Polacco tells the story of her own family, and the quilt that remains a symbol of their enduring love and faith.

Patricia Polacco comes from a family of storytellers, poets, dirt farmers, teachers and artists. They came from many parts of the world, but mainly Russia. She grew up to be an illustrator, a designer, and a writer of children's books. She now lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two children, and she is the present caretaker of the quilt.