The Mitten
Adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett
Young Nicki finally convinces his grandmother to knit him white mittens, but she warns him not lose them in the snow. Of course, when he goes out to play, he promptly loses one of those snow-white mittens.
The warm cozy mitten quickly attracts the attention of a tired mole looking for a place to hide. Soon a rabbit comes by and wants to squeeze in as well. One animal after another squeeze into the mitten, until at last something happens that forces them to exit rather quickly. When Nicki finds his lost mitten, he realizes it will never be the same again!
This Ukranian folk tale is lovingly retold and richly illustrated by Jan Brett. She researched the clothing and housing style of the Ukraine to accurately portray the story. On each 2-page apread of this book, on either side of the illustration, there are 2 small mitten “windows”. One of them shows what is happening with Nicki simultaneously as the story goes along and the other one that foreshadows what will happen on the next page of the story. The illustrations perfectly capture the expressions of the animals as they struggle to share the mitten.
Although this book has been a part of our library for quite some time, I just discovered something new this week that made the book come alive.
The author has a website, www.janbrett.com where she has illustrated hundreds of free coloring pages and activities that feature the characters from her many books.
We went to the website and downloaded mittens and animals for a fun project. (Because the activities are done by Jan, the animals are the exact same ones as in the story.)
Once the girls colored their mittens and animals, they went through the book and acted out the story. All week they have been “doing the story” along with the book. It’s been so much fun!
Our next project from the book will be to print out these masks and act out the story.
This book lends itself particularly well to many school activities. By doing a quick web search, you can find many websites with printable activities and lesson plans to go along with this story. This website has TONS of activities.
Some of the other Jan Brett books that we’ve enjoyed include:
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Armadillo Rodeo
Berlioz the Bear
To join in the Children’s Book Monday fun, please visit Elise at A Path Made Straight.
Happy reading!
Great choice! Jan Brett is wonderful. This one was our introduction to her work and we kept reading more. I think Armadillo Rodeo was the boys’ favorite though. I think her website is fabulous!!
Oh, how we love Jan Brett- especially at Christmastime!
This is one of our favorites as well- and what a great idea, to use the links and download coloring pages and activities! Thank you!
I wasn’t able to post a review today, but I did provide a Mr. Linky, so come on by, friend!