A Language of Stitches: Constance Moore's Picture Book on Quilter Rosie Lee Tompkins

Who is the book about?

Effie Mae Martin, a Black quilter born in Arkansas, is the subject of this biography. She became one of the most admired textile artists in the United States, working under the name Rosie Lee Tompkins to protect her privacy. A Language of Stitches: The Radical Quilts of Rosie Lee Tompkins introduces her story to young readers. Constance Moore wrote and illustrated the book, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers on July 28, 2026.

The life it covers

Martin grew up in a large sharecropping family in segregated 1930s Arkansas, one of 15 children, and learned to sew from her mother. As a young woman, she moved to California, worked as a nurse, and raised a family. After experiencing a mental health crisis, sewing became a way back to stability. Her quilts departed from tradition: she combined velvet, taffeta, and old T-shirts, worked words into her designs, and used her work to carry memories of family, faith and Black life, including sports heroes.

A collector named Eli Leon helped bring her work to museums and galleries under the Rosie Lee Tompkins name, which let her keep her own life private. Moore's text follows that arc, from cotton fields to gallery walls.

The art

Moore is an Oakland artist and elementary-school art teacher, and this is her debut as both author and illustrator. Her earlier work includes the Colors of My Life series, among them Brown: The Many Shades of Love. For this book she worked in gouache, watercolor and collage, and reviewers say many spreads look like quilts themselves.

How it was reviewed

The book drew strong trade attention. Booklist gave it a starred review and pointed to the surprise of seeing one of Martin's quilts that features Michael Jordan. Kirkus Reviews praised the textured illustrations and the way the spare, poetic text makes segregation and mental illness approachable for young children, while noting it leaves less room to explain exactly what made the quilt designs so groundbreaking. School Library Journal also recommended it for readers of all ages.

Using it in a classroom or library

The book is aimed at ages 4 to 8, but its subjects open conversations well beyond that range: the Great Migration, how artists choose pseudonyms, how making things can support mental health, and how museum collections decide whose work counts as art. Pairing it with images of Tompkins's actual quilts, which are held by major collections including the Berkeley Art Museum, makes for an easy art lesson. Kirkus notes the back matter includes selected sources.

Book details

• Title: A Language of Stitches: The Radical Quilts of Rosie Lee Tompkins
• Author and illustrator: Constance Moore
• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
• Published: July 28, 2026
• Length: 48 pages, 9 x 12 trim
• Hardcover ISBN: 9781419776267 ($19.99)
• Ebook ISBN: 9798887073699