In the Street of the Temple Cloth Printers

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This book by British Columbian artist Dorothy Field reveals an obvious
love of Indian culture, past and present. Set in the old part of
Ahmedabad, a modern city of textile mills in Gujarat province, the story
weaves together the family that prints the cloth, the method of
hand-printing using wooden blocks and natural dyes, and the ancient
legends depicted in the traditional designs.

The legends are printed in rust-red type, while the contemporary story
and the workers’ activities are in traditional black type. The
illustrations are also in two forms, with numerous small photographs
depicting family life and printing activities, and temple cloth designs
enlivening every page of text.

The lives of Vaghi the printer, his wife, Otamben, and their eight
children overflow from their small house onto the street in front. All
but the youngest help with the many stages of printing the temple cloth.
This high degree of cooperation, and the details and stages of the
printing process, will surprise and intrigue children from Western
cultures. The exotic legends are made more familiar and realistic by the
part they play in the lives and shared tasks of family members. Highly
recommended.