Hana's Year, a storybook/video/activity guide, is the beautifully told tale about a sweet little monkey and her struggle to resist peer pressure. The story is written by Carol Talley, is illustrated by Itoko Maeno, and is set in Japan. While also telling a compelling story about learning to think for oneself, this gorgeous book provides beautiful illustrations and information about Japanese folk textiles. One of the characters in the story is a weaver and in the context of Hana's adventures, your child learns about weaving, spinning, dyeing fabrics with indigo dye, stenciling, and kimonos.

The accompanying activity guide, suggested for first through fourth grade, is chock full of activities involving language arts, social studies, science, math, art, and music. The video was pure joy. My kids were delighted with it. This storybook/video/activity guide is a shining example of how various topics can be woven together into an in-depth study for our students.