This new book about a knitting little girl comes with wonderful timing for me – my daughter, Girl 7, has become obsessed with crocheting. I can’t wait to share this with her, both for the tie-in to her new hobby and for the lovely message.
Extra Yarn
by Mac Barnett
Balzer & Bray
ISBN: 978 0 06 195338 5
Annabelle lives in a town of white snow and black soot, so when she finds a box of yarn in every colour and begins to make things out of it, it comes as a bit of a shock to those around her. She is a generous soul, however, and knits sweaters for one person after another, and somehow, never runs out of yarn. Once word spreads of her amazing box of yarn, a greedy archduke decides to have it for himself, only to discover that it yields no yarn for him, and indeed, is barren until it returns to Annabelle, who joyfully begins knitting again.
It’s a lovely story about sharing, finding your passion, and bringing your something special to the world, and it reads almost like a folk tale, it’s so nicely written. The illustrations are in the spare, muted style of Jon Klassen, whose book I Want My Hat Back has been a recent favourite of mine. I’m going to buy this for a friend who is a knitter as well, it is so lovely.
If you are the type to adore stories about generous knitters, sharing, and warmth of hands and hearts, you should also take a look at Candace Christiansen’s The Mitten Tree, an equally lovely story about an older woman who knits mittens for children, and finds her basket of wool replenished mysteriously. It’s one I looked for for years before it was republished in paperback.