The Barn Quilt

Celebrate Lit Book Tour

About the Book The Barn Quilt

Book: The Barn Quilt

Author: Patti Michels

Genre: Children’s Book

Release Date: November 19, 2019

Farmer Max and Miz Patti have a big red barn on their Maple Shade Farm, but one thing is missing—they need a barn quilt. But what pattern should they hang on the side of their barn? The pineapple quilt, or the corn and beans quilt, or what about a quilt with animals on it? None of them are quite right though. Since it’s Christmas, they wonder what barn quilt would have been just right for the stable where Jesus was born. Work along with their neighbor boy, Dennis, as he helps Farmer Max and Miz Patti decide on and make the perfect barn quilt.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on The Barn Quilt:

This is such a sweet poignant story for all ages.  Really it’s designed for children but old and young alike will love this title.  

I love to quilt and the quilt blocks definitely caught my eye.  But I also loved the stories that came along with them and the tie into Christmas and what might the quilt block on that lowly stable where Jesus was born have looked like?  

For kids to read this alone I’d say they need to be ready for chapter books as there is quite a bit of reading on the pages and not just cute pictures.  While the illustrations are amazing they’re not going to capture the really young ones’ attention for long and definitely not long enough for you to read each page.

I read this book out loud to my three and six-year-olds.  My two nine-year-olds listened along.  One of my nine-year-olds could have read this on her own and one could not.  While the three-year-old did listen to the whole thing it did not capture him as fully as it did the other three.  Maybe part of that is he’s a boy and they’re all girls.  I did catch most of my older children listening in as well because everyone loves to be read to!

What did I think of the book?  I definitely would recommend this book.  It’s a great one and not just to be shelved for Christmas time only.  As an adult, I found the message good, the images pleasing, and enjoyed the story.  

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of The Barn Quilt

Patti Michels has lived in the same rural midwestern county her entire life, thirty-nine of those with her husband. She loves designing her family’s Christmas card and working with senior citizens. At the end of a long day, she enjoys returning to the farm and looking out her kitchen window at her own barn quilt.

More from Patti

Believe it or not, the idea for this children’s book started out as a Christmas card. Each year the Michels family produces their own original Christmas card. This tradition started out simple, in the early 1980s, as the Michels’ two small daughters helped with the coloring, cutting, and gluing!

Patti Michels and Max, her farmer husband of 39 years, live on a small farm in Southern Illinois. The girls have grown and moved on, and the empty-nesters have joined others in their small farm community, in creating a barn quilt to hang on their barn.

While Max was preparing the 36″ X 36″ wood panel for Patti to paint, Patti was drawing and designing and dreaming up the best barn quilt pattern to display on the barn at Maple Shade Farm. As Patti painted their special barn quilt, a Christmas card idea popped into her head. “What if the stable where Jesus was born had a barn quilt?”

Patti feels like ideas are a gift from God, as is her husband, who helps her pull off one after another completed “project”. Whether it’s feeding cows, baling hay, making Christmas cards, or creating a barn quilt, they continue to work side by side. This book, based on the real-life story of creating the barn quilt, gives kids a glimpse into a small farm family life, while also enjoying and celebrating those things that make Christmas so special, like hot chocolate, cookies, and God’s love.

Blog Stops for The Barn Quilt

The Power of Words, November 26

Remembrancy, November 26

Reading Is My SuperPower, November 27

For Him and My Family, November 27

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 28

Older & Smarter?, November 29

Seasons of Opportunities, November 29

Vicky Sluiter, November 30

Sara Jane Jacobs, November 30

Bigreadersite, December 1

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, December 1

Maureen’s Musings, December 2

Texas Book-aholic, December 2

janicesbookreviews, December 3

A Reader’s Brain, December 3

For the Love of Literature, December 4

Mary Hake, December 4

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, December 5

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 6

Emily Yager, December 6

She Lives to Read, December 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 8

Inklings and notions, December 8

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 9

Giveaway for The Barn Quilt

To celebrate her tour Patti is giving away the grand prize of a signed copy of The Barn Quilt, and a $25 gift card from Amazon!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/f197/the-barn-quilt-celebration-tour-giveaway