[xtypo_dropcap]S[/xtypo_dropcap]easonal-themed books abound, and two that I find especially charming for younger readers are Steven Kellogg’s The Missing Mitten Mystery, and Hans de Beer’s “Little Polar Bear, Take Me Home!”
If you are familiar with the Steve Kellogg’s characteristic artwork—extra-wide faces, stocky figures, eyes often a bit too close together—you’ll be right at home with The Missing Mitten. Yet this one out-charms some of his other efforts.
Through very simple prose, we learn that Annie has lost her red mitten, and she and her dog Oscar search everywhere the pair have played that day to find it.
She visits snow forts she built with friends, she follows a cardinal, thinking her mitten has taken flight. She imagines that a mouse might have taken it for refuge; she also imagines a wonderful mitten tree that might come up in spring if her mitten sprouts.
All of these adventures are captured in warm and imaginative watercolors—with a little help from some ink and pencil line—in truly glorious renditions.
Of course the mitten is eventually found, and where it is hidden is ingenious, so I won’t give it away to parents here. But for anyone who has lost a mitten, (and who hasn’t?), this story leads the reader from the initial frustration to a wonderful imaginative journey.
For More Advanced Readers
Demanding a little more reading skill, Little Polar Bear, Take Me Home! also contains terrific illustrations. Although the colors are more in keeping with a wintery theme, the charm of the drawings, especially the two main characters and their expressive faces, more than makes up for it.
A bit bored by his surroundings, little Lars, a polar bear, meets a little tiger, Sasha, who has accidentally traveled far north in a railroad car. After an ample lunch from a garbage dump, the two end up falling asleep in the car, and travel quite a distance back south.
Lars takes responsibility for helping Sasha find his way back home, far to the south, in the land of the tigers.
The two endure a snowstorm, befriend a helpful camel, and overcome their worst fears during the journey.
After the adventure, Lars learns that his home may not be as boring as he thinks.
Being in a totally new world can be scary—and getting help from friends, even new ones, can make all the difference.
In each case, whether through relying on your own imagination in The Missing Mitten or having a friend help through a fearful time in Little Polar Bear, the adventurer finds what he or she seeks.
