Looking for a fun new winter classic to read with your little one? Look no further! The Mitten is the retelling of an old folk tale believed to have originated in the Ukraine. The common element in all versions of this tale is too many animals trying to fit in one place at one time. In this book, they all try to fit in a - you guessed it! - a little boy's red mitten. The boy loses his mitten while playing in the snow all day, and one-by-one, a squirrel, rabbit, fox, bear, and mouse come along and squeeze their way into the mitten in order to warm their icy toes. The story is written with plenty of repetition, creating a nursery rhyme-like cadence. The painted pictures include scenes from the illustrator's own living room and neighborhood, as well as adorable anthropomorphized animals.
The words spoken by each animal and the repetition of phrases make this book easy to memorize for little ones who want to 'read along' with you, or even read to you, using the pictures to jog their memory. One of the messages of the story is sharing. None of the animals want to share the mitten after they first get in and get warm, but they all finally agree to share because it is the right thing to do. After all, it was not long ago that they were outside the mitten, begging to come in and warm their toes too. When finally too many animals squeeze into the mitten and it bursts at the seams, the animals react well; they don't get mad or blame anyone, but they simply bade each other goodbye and search for another warm spot. This type of patience and understanding are wonderful skills to point out to your little one.
My three year-old friend Sam loves to play outside as much as the little boy featured in this book, so I added Sam's name into the story. He loves it when I do that! He looked completely baffled when the bear climbed into the mitten. I watched him look at his hand, back at the picture, and then at me with inquisitive eyes. "How does he fit in there?" Sam asked. I smiled and explained that a bear could not really fit in a mitten, so we have to use our imagination. Sam smiled, "Oh! I'm good at that!"
--Audra
