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Several animals sleep snugly in Nicki's lost mitten until the bear sneezes.
With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
"If you drop a white mitten in the snow, it will be hard to find," his grandmother told him.
But Nicki wanted snow-white mittens so much that Baba made them for him.
When she finished knitting, Nicki trot on the mittens and went out to play.
It wasn't long before one mitten fell off.
A little mole found it and crawled inside. It was just the right size, so he decided to stay.
A rabbit came hopping by. He wiggled in next to the mole.
A hedgehog wanted to get warm. The mole and the rabbit made room for him.
The owl didn't want to be left out. So the mole, the rabbit, and the hedgehog had to move over. The little mitten was getting crowded.
A badger looked out of his house and saw the mitten. He climbed right in.
It started to snow, so a fox pushed his way in and made himself right at home.
Then a big bear sniffed at the mitten. The animals were packed in tight, but the bear didn't care.
He crawled in anyway. The mitten was getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Then a tiny mouse squeezed in and perched herself on the big bear's nose.
The mouse's whiskers tickled the bear's nose. "Aaaaa-aaaaa-ca-chew!" the bear sneezed. All the animals flew out of the mitten.
Continues...
Excerpted from Mittens by Jan Brett Copyright © 1998 by Jan Brett. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Anonymous
Posted October 9, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Beautifully illustrated Ukrainian story about a little boy who loses
one of the mittens that his grandmother knitted for him. With time
one by one animals find their way into the mitten to keep warm.
The ending is delightful. The illustrations are colorful and
will delight children with the progression of animals "moving in."
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.lizbeth813
Posted February 9, 2009
Young children love this story and it holds their attention. I enjoy this book too.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.dyr
Posted February 9, 2009
Keep this as a 'classic' for every one of your children and grandchildren. Perfect as a quick read, bedtime or at grandparents home.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 13, 2006
We like this book because it has lots of interesting forest animals in it. Since we are from Texas we don't get to see snow very much, but Jan Brett puts so much detail into her pictures that we feel like we are in the snow too! In this story a boy asks for snow white mittens. He loses one in the snow. The animals begin to go into the mitten and it gets crowded. Read this great story to find out what happens inside!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 26, 2011
I didn't read the e-book, but the paper one has AMAZING illustrations.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 15, 2011
this was a amazing book! i love the pictures and the writing is so lyrical and easy to picture!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 15, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I love Jan Brett's illustrations and this is one of my favorites! My 3 year old and 1 year old both love me to read this book out loud and always laugh when the little mouse gets on the bear's nose and makes him sneeze. This is a great book for anytime, even though it is set during the winter, and in fact I picked up an extra one to give to my nieces. One of the best books we own - definitely worth the money!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I purchased this charming Ukrainian Folktale book for the purpose of "telling" it to children ages 7 and 8 at a DPS elementary school where I do storytelling once a month to five classes of combined first/second grade students. However, for kids in this age group, I felt it was necessary to enlarge quite a bit upon the basic story line, which was actually quite easy to do with Baba and Nicki's characters, and even more so with each of the unexpected variety of animals who manage to squeeze their way into that verrry stretchy mitten! My young listeners remained happily engaged and responsive throughout the 'telling' and were also delighted with the marvelous illustrations, which I showed afterwards. The clever illustrations on the sides of each page of this book actually could tell the basic story without the use words at all!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Purchased this book for our grandson and he loves it ~ I do too. Fun to read and fun to talk about the animals and the story. He alread had The Hat and this was a great addition to his book collection. Recommend!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 16, 2009
We adore Jan Brett books in this house, but "The Mitten" is a particular favorite. ("The Hat" is a close second.) A great story about a boy who begs his grandmother to knit him white mittens with the promise he will not lose them. Of course, he loses one, but many woodland friends find it and make it their home. Classic folk story style illustrations with clever hints of what's to come in the sidebar illustrations.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 14, 2005
The bilingual children from Ukraine, Russia and Moldava loved this book when I read it to them. I told them that it was based on an Ukrainian folktale and they were so happy to hear this! Although they could not understand all the words in English, they did comprehend the detailed pictures and they laughed very hard. Laughter is a universal language !
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 10, 2013
I remember my mom reading this book to me it hold a lot of memories and happy warm nights
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book was one of my favorites growing up! I'm going to buy it for my niece and hope that she loves it just as much as I did when I was a kid.
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Posted May 29, 2011
To expesnsive, 12$ !?!? Very cute book, but not worth so much money.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 23, 2011
Just like all the authors other stories it makes you wonder, can tha really happen in real life? -Teenreviews
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 22, 2011
i love it because its just a silly story.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 23, 2011
i kinda liked it. but i liked the pictures.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 28, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I absolutely love Jan Brett's books. The detail is just fantastic. Often along the edge of the page there is a hint what will be coming up on the next page. Sometimes her books are rewrites of old tales and sometimes she tells her own stories. Either way, they are special books. Children who cannot handle busy pictures may not tolerate her books, however.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2002
The mitten is a wonderfully cute animal story. This book is fun to have in a classroom for the early grades (k-2) and is a great one to keep in your personal library at home. It is fun and easy to read for children and the illustrations are phenomenal.
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Posted March 1, 2001
This is my 14-month old's favorite book and has been since 11 months. She sits in my lap, entranced, each and every time I read it and never squirms. The pictures just captivate her and she loves all the animals. I will treasure this book forever because it has brought her so much joy.
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Overview
Several animals sleep snugly in Nicki's lost ...