Customer Reviews

The Mitten Board Book Edition

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

If you know a child who loves animals buy this book. Everyone cuddles together and gets along. This book is about a lost mitten but it really is a home for animals. Good reading and a fun book.

In the deep Ukrainian wintertime, very little stirs.
But some are still awake in the snow - rabbits and foxes and bears.

Nicki's missing mitten becomes home to various creatures,
And he only gets it back when the big bear sneezes.

Beautiful folkish drawings bring this humorous tale to life.
But this board book version's ABRIDGED - so four stars only, not five.

My 16-month old son loves many different books, however this is not one of them. Every time I try to read it to him I get to about the third page and he's had enough, jumps off my lap and goes to get a different book. This is the only one he rejects like this, I think the illustrations just don't do it for him.

This is a small handy for the car sort of book. The story is short and a pleasure to read as it reviews the names of different animals found in the forest. This was given to my little one as present from my Ukrainian grandmother whom we call "Baba", I like that we can relate to a few of the books details, like the gramdmother shown an ethnic blouse like the ones worn in the old country, and the boy is called Nick like many Ukrainian boys making the book even more authentic.

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.

My 18-month-old sons love this book. I have to read this one to them over and over ~~ they love the bright colorful pictures. They love hearing about the animals. And I love reading it to them. It's fun and pleasurable on the eyes as well.

Nicki wants a pair of white mittens and his Baba agrees to make it for him. However, he loses one and a mole decided to rest in the white mitten lying on the snow. He soon is joined by a rabbit, a fox, hedgehog, badger, owl, a bear and a tiny mouse. It's hilarious to imagine all of them in one tiny little mitten ~~ and so fun to read too!

I recommend Brett's books for everyone. She's a wonderful story-teller and her art is beautifully-illustrated. She is an example of how children's books should be!

2-4-04

Jan Brett has some of the most beautifully illustrated books around. This is no exception.

Nikki is a boy who convinces Baba to knit him some mittens that are as white as snow. Baba warns him that white mittens are very easy to lose. Baba is right.

Nikki goes out to play and almost immediately drops one of the mittens. This is where the two stories come in. The main story is told in the large illustrations on each page as a series of animals squeeze themselves into the mitten. In the borders of each page, we see Nikki as he plays and ultimately disturbs each of the animals so that they leave their homes and eventually find the mitten.

The stories cross as a sneeze blasts the animals out of the mitten and we see Nikki retrieve it in the main illustrations while the borders show the animals returning to their homes. Baba sees Nikki reach up and catch the mitten as it drops from the sky, but she is puzzled when she sees that one mitten is now much larger than the other.

Absolutely beautiful illustrations. A simple story but full of fun as we see how each of the animals enters the story.

We love the book "The Mitten" that we checked out from the library. Beware that this version of the book is abridged and in board book format. The full text book and illustrations are much better.

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!