Customer Reviews

The Mitten Board Book Edition

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this a few years ago on the strength of all the good reviews on amazon.com, but my toddler/pre-school daughter never really liked the book much, and the illustrations never grabbed her. This year I bought the Jan Brett Christmas Treasury--a collection of her winter and Christmas stories--even though I was sorry that The Mitten was a duplicate. Then I discovered what a difference the format makes! The illustrations on 11 x 11-inch pages are eye-popping and reveal the story so much better. And what the description here doesn't tell you is that the text in the board book is *abridged,* which simplifies the story line to a bare minimum and doesn't connect the illustrations together as well. Spring for the hardbound full-size or used paperback full-size, or spend not much more for the many books in the Christmas Treasury and you'll get a better read for your money!

Currently my children's favorite book, The Mitten scores on several levels. First, the art is wonderful. Seven or eight animals are pictured in the book (and very well drawn) which makes it a visual feast. Each two page spread also includes two smaller "summary" and "foreshadowing" pictures that relate to the previous and following page. It makes for a spread that has a lot of possibilities for young pre-readers in terms of connecting the story and describing what each character has done and will be doing. The tale itself is whimsical and amuses the pre-school set. A fine children's book.

As a kindergarten teacher, I am always on the lookout for ways to encorporate literature into my everyday lessons. Jan Brett's The Mitten is a must for the first day of winter. The children love the illustrations and guessing how many animals will fit into the mitten. They "read" the book to each other long after the lesson is over. The class also publishes their own book about what could fit in their mitten. The Mitten is a delightful story with predictability and loveable animal characters.

This is another great retelling by Jan Brett. I read this book to my second grade class every year. You can download a mitten and the animals from the story at Jan Brett's web site. After I read this delightful story to my class, the children color the animals and cut them out along with the mitten. I read the story again and they act it out with their animals. They take the mitten and animals home to do a retelling with their families. The children absolutely love this story and the activities.

This tale is a simple tale in which animals squeeze into a new white mitten knitted by Niki's grandmother who protested that white mittens would get lost in the snow. Each animal intimidates the animals already in the mitten - mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear and mouse. A final sneeze lands the mitten back in Niki's hands. While this is also an excellent tale for telling, the illustrations are so precisely right for the text that it would be a shame to miss them.

My one-year old loves this book. The picture of the mouse joining the other animals in the mitten never fails to crack him up. This is his favorite book to "read" to himself and I can understand why - the illustrations are lively, and funny, and the pages are packed with detail.

This book about a group of animals who burrow into a well-crafted mitten dropped in the snow by a Ukrainian boy is a delightful tale about companionship and sharing. Jan Brett's illustrations are once again intricate, realistic, and beautiful in detail, especially her renderings of the animals. A wonderful addition to any child's library.

What a great story! I have the original version published way back when the pages were just blue and white. The story is a little different now with current updates but it still remains a great story for little ones. It's cute to see all the animals that try to squeeze into a tiny mitten to keep warm. A little far-fetched when a bear gets in but still, it is very imaginative and fun. A library classic!

This tale of a young boy who just has to have a pair of white mittens in the middle of a snowstorm is a great book to read and act out with the young child. The insets that tell you what's coming on the next page are a great addition to a lovely story! This story is a great complement to Francine Poppo Rich's "Why Can't I Spray Today?" which is a playful tale about a skunk who can't get his tail sprayer to work.

As a preschool teacher and a parent, I prefer the Tresselt version of this story. In Brett's version, the animals in the mitten each let the next one enter out of fear. I think this can be a dangerous lesson to teach young children. Tresselt's animals let each other in because they want to help them when they see them suffering from cold. I think it conveys more positive and humane values, and it also told with gentle wit and wisdom.