Mac Barnett
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
HarperCollins, 2012, 978-0-06-195338-5
It is a cold day in winter and the ground is covered with
snow. Everything around Annabelle is snowy white or is black with soot. Then
the little girl finds a box that is filled with colorful yarn. Annabelle knits
a sweater for herself, and she knits a sweater for her dog Mars. Even after she
has knitted these two garments there is some yarn left over.
Annabelle takes Mars for a walk and meets Nate, who is sitting
on a wood pile. Nate makes fun of the sweaters Annabelle and Mars are wearing,
and Annabelle tells him that he is “just jealous.” Though Nate insists that he
is not jealous, it turns out that he is, and when Annabelle knits him and his
dog sweaters, Nate is surprisingly happy.
Annabelle’s box of yarn still isn’t empty. When she goes to
school wearing her new sweater her teacher, Mr. Norman, says that her sweater
is distracting the students in class. Annabelle announces that she will make a
sweater for everyone so that they will not have to “turn around” to look at the
one colorful sweater in the room. Mr. Norman says that such a thing is
“Impossible,” but it turns out that he is wrong. Annabelle is able to knit
sweaters for all the children in the class and for Mr. Norman. The strange
thing is that the box is still isn’t empty.
In this enchanting award winning book children will
encounter a box of yarn that is clearly magical. They will marvel, and laugh,
at all the things Annabelle knits, and they will also appreciate that part of
the box’s magic is within Annabelle herself.
Children will enjoy seeing how Annabelle’s knitted creations
bring color to a world that is mostly white, black, and shades of brown. What
would it be like to live in a world where there was no color, a world where there
was no one around to create beautiful, colorful things.
No comments:
Post a Comment