SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

May 16, 2012 by Betsy Bird

Top 100 Picture Books #94: The Mitten by Jan Brett

May 16, 2012 by Betsy Bird   4 comments

#94 The Mitten by Jan Brett (1989)
21 points

A lovely retelling of this old folktale with Brett’s truly lovely illustrations. – Barbara Thompson

As insane as it sounds, this is Ms. Brett’s first appearance on one of our polls.  Prolific and still going strong she first came to my attention due to her knitting.  Some authors just throw stuff together and clearly don’t care to show every stitch in a sweater.  Brett isn’t like them.  The whole reason this book works as well as it does is that you can see the stitches in that beloved mitten stretching and growing as more and more animals test their tensile strength.  Why I haven’t seen knitting to match this until Mac Barnett’s Extra Yarn with Jon Klassen’s illustrations came along.

The description from PW reads, “Baba, Nicki’s grandmother, knits pure white mittens for him, even though she is afraid that he will lose them in the snow. Sure enough, the first time Nicki is out, he drops one and some animals promptly move into its snug wool interior. First comes a mole, then a rabbit, a hedgehog, an owl, a badger, a fox, a bear and, finally, a mouse. That mouse tickles the bear’s nose and he sneezes, dislodging all of the animals at once. Nicki finds his mitten, and takes it home, but Baba is left to wonder about how it became so enormously stretched out.”

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Now this is by no means the first picture book version of The Mitten to garner attention.  Before Brett the go-to Mitten of note was by one Alvin R. Tresselt, seen here:

For what it’s worth, it’s still gorgeous.

Later came the Jim Aylesworth version with illustrations by Barbara McClintock:

Publishers Weekly said of it, “Brett’s magnificent paintings feature her usual array of folk details, and this time, intricate knitting tracks, ornate embroidery, the crusty, peeling texture of the birch bark borders and the exquisite patterns found in Baba’s homey rooms. Readers will sit back, suspend belief and welcome this tall tale from the Ukrainian tradition.”

  • Anita Silvey has a nice write-up of the book on the Book-a-Day Almanac.

And then there’s this interview with Ms. Brett herself:

Filed under: Best Books, Top 100 Picture Books Poll

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Jan BrettThe Mitten

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

August 2012

The Top 100 Lists Are Nigh. Nigh, I Say! Nigh!

by Betsy Bird

August 2012

Fusenews: Look for the Girl with the Caterpillar Tattoo and She's Gone

by Betsy Bird

July 2012

Top 100 Picture Books Poll Results

by Betsy Bird

July 2012

Top 100 Picture Books #1: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

by Betsy Bird

June 2012

Top 100 Picture Books #2: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

12 Books for Trans Day of Visibility

Books in Verse: These middle grade works speak to the heart through lyrical language | Great Books

Standout Comics and Graphic Novels by Black Creators | Stellar Panels

Three Picture Books to Celebrate Black History

15 Short & Sweet Love Stories for Tweens and Teens

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jean says

    May 16, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    While I love the art in Jan Brett’s Mitten, I still prefer to read aloud Alvin Tresselt’s version where the animals are moved to let other animals into the mitten out of kindness rather than fear.

  2. Sondy says

    May 16, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    Actually, Jan Brett does a much better job with knitting stitches than Jon Klassen’s stitches in Extra Yarn. As a knitter, I love that book, but also as a knitter it bothers me that the stitches on the page are always the same size. Real stitches would be smaller at a distance, and you’d want to use bigger needles and bigger stitches for a house than for a hat, for example…. But I know it’s not about realism. Jan Brett, on the other hand, makes it seem actually possible that the mitten could stretch that much. LOVE the panel when Grandma sees what’s happened to the mitten!

  3. Ben Collinsworth says

    June 6, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    I just read Brett’s note in the 20th Anniversary Edition. She mentions that while researching the tale, she smartly decided to eliminate the part where a hunter comes along and shoots all the animals in the mitten.

Trackbacks

  1. Family Storytime – Welcome Winter! – Wednesday, January 15, 2014 | Children's Services @ Allentown Public Library says:
    December 23, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    […] are very detailed and have a very folk-art feeling to them.  This book is included on School Library Journal’s Top 100 Picture Books list.  Check out some other Jan Brett titles – she is an author you and your children will enjoy […]

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023