When I was in Boston over the holiday, my book buddy Mas and I had a full-on book-nerd session. Her husband Walter and their baby Oliver joined us as well, although Oliver was a silent observer during this trip. "Have you read? ... Did you see? ... I just love the new book by...." We even tried to convince Oliver Jeffers, via his agent, that he should design the logo for this blog. Alas, that was a failed attempt, but a lovely opportunity to feel connected to the book world we love so much.
 |
Annabelle lives in a cold little town without much color
(Sorry, lil' sis!) |
One book we talked about, and couldn't wait to run out and buy, was
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. We have both loved the work of Klassen in
I Want My Hat Back and
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Well, the release date came and I was ready! The book was just as lovely as I had hoped!
 |
The Archduke tries to persuade Annabelle
as she knits a sweater for a truck. |
The story is about a little girl named Annabelle who discovers a mysterious box with colorful yarn. She decides to knit herself a sweater. So she does. She finds she still has extra yarn so she knits a sweater for Mars, her dog. She still has extra yarn so she decides to knit more sweaters. She keeps on knitting sweaters for everyone, except Mr. Crabtree, "who never wore sweaters or even long pants, and who would stand in his shorts with the snow up to his knees." So she knit him a hat. After she knits everyone sweaters she
still has extra yarn so she knits sweaters for things that don't usually wear sweaters, like trucks and houses and mailboxes. Her town becomes colorful and people travel from all over to get a sweater. Then, one day, an archduke travels to try and buy her box of magical yarn but she won't sell it, not even for $10 billion. He decides to send some bandits to steal her yarn but he opens the box to discover...well, read the book and find out!
Mac Barnett tells a pretty simple story with an oh-so-sweet message. I
love it's fairy tale style, full of magic and an evil archduke. And
Klassen delivers again! My favorite pages are his line-ups. Our good
friends from
I Want My Hat Back even make a cameo appearance!
 |
| Annabelle knits for all her classmates and her teacher. |
 |
| Annabelle knits for the town...even "little Louis" Ha! |
 |
| Annabelle even knits for...hey! I know those guys! |
 |
My latest creation, a pink elephant,
with a mustache my sister knit! |
For those of you who know me, you know that I am also a knitter. This book was extra delightful for me because of how it showed off the beauty of the knitted gift.
Here is the link to the other blog I write with my mom and sister, about knitting! I loved seeing the faces of the folks who received their sweaters from Annabelle. Some were delighted, some a little confused. Yes, this is the gamble a knitter takes when creating a gift for someone.
Extra Yarn is a great book, a great gift, to young readers, and everyone else, that will definitely make you feel all warm and cozy, just like the perfect knitted sweater.
Comments
Post a Comment