The mitten

Title: The Mitten
Author: Jim Aylesworth
Illustrator: Barbara McClintock
Medium: Color pencils
Genre: Modern Fantasy/ folktale
Theme: Don’t forget your mittens!
Summary: A little boy loses his mitten in the woods when a squirrel comes by and decided to go in to keep itself warm, but then many different animals comes in the mitten too and it keeps on stretching.
Literary Elements:
Setting: I do believe that the setting is critical to this story as it builds suspense around the setting. The animals would n not enter the mitten if it was not cold as it was outside in the snow. It remained in the same setting for the most of the story so that setting is not backdrop to the story because it has a lot of meaning along with the mitten itself. The setting is integral background to the story as it would guide students throughout the story thinking what will happen next.
Style: I loved the style of the author’s writing because it kept me entertained throughout the book awaiting what would happen next. As other animal comes in, the author seems to shift its tone to fit the animal’s “tone” such as "'Br-r-r-r-r-rrrr!' said the squirrel. 'My toes are cold as ice! This mitten looks so cozy, and warm toes would feel so nice!'" This story is based on a folktale but it can consider a modern fantasy to me also because it involves animals talking and things that you know that will never happen in real life. The author was really creative with how he put words in the book throughout, making it more interesting.
Plot- The text and illustration is obviously progressive as you see things evolve as time goes by. Children would be able to see the mitten grow and then they will start to question what would happen next and then they will find out that it explodes at the end. I don’t know if the author (retold) expected to have an theme in the story but I guess the author wanted to “warn” children not to lose anything because animals could come and stretch your things!
Characterization- There are not any main characters in this book but you could tell that the main character is the boy losing his mitten because throughout the story it is about his mitten. I believe the character is round because in the end he realized that he has to be careful and check where his things are at all times.
Evaluation: I have read this book as a child myself and I remember loving this book because it is out of this world, it is obvious that it cannot ever happen but it is fascinating. Children would love this book because it gives them suspense throughout the book and they would be so eager to know what will happen at the end of the book. I think a lot of kids can relate to this story as they do lose a lot of things so maybe this book can help them to be careful with their things. ☺