The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale

Title: The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale

Author: Jan Brett

Genre: Traditional Literature

Summary: There was a boy named Nicki. Nicki wanted his new mittens to be made from wool as white as snow. Primarily, Nicki’s grandmother, Baba, told Nicki that she didn’t want to make white mittens, because if one was dropped in the snow, Nicki would never find it. Nicki still wanted snow-white mittens, so Baba made them. Baba told Nicki that when he came home, she would make sure he was safe and sound, but next, she would make sure he still had his snow-white mittens. Sure enough, Nicki went off and one of his new mittens dropped in the snow and was left behind. A mole found his mitten. It was the perfect size, so he decided to stay inside. Next, a snowshoe rabbit came along. After seeing the rabbit’s big kickers, the mole moved over and shared the mitten with the rabbit. Next, a hedgehog came along. Not being someone to argue with someone covered with prickles, the mole and the rabbit made room. Attracted by the commotion, a big owl swooped down. When the other animals in the mitten saw the owl’s glinty talons, they quickly let him in. Through the snow appeared a badger. The other animals were not pleased, but when they saw his diggers, they let him in. It started to snow, but the animals were snug in the mitten. A fox trotted by and began to feel drowsy. He poked his muzzle in. When the other animals saw his shiny teeth, they gave the fox lots of room. Next, a great bear lumbered by. He spied the mitten and didn’t want to be left out in the cold. Who would argue with a bear? He went in, as the mitten swelled and stretched. Along came a meadow mouse. She went to the one place left-the top of the great bear’s nose. Tickled by the mouse’s whiskers, the bear gave an enormous sneeze, which shot the mitten into the sky and scattered the animals in all directions. On Nicki’s way home, he spotted his lost mitten. As he caught his snow-white mitten, he saw Baba’s face in the window. She saw that he was safe and sound and he had both of his new mittens.

*Each page showed which animal would come along next and a picture of what Nicki was doing. He noticed that his mitten was missing when all of the animals were already inside of it*

*Last page had the shape of a mitten with a picture of Baba holding one stretched out mitten and one normal sized one. She was standing next to Nicki*

Characters: Nicki, Baba, mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear, mouse

Setting: House, in the snow, in Nicki’s mitten

Plot: Get home safe and sound and with both new snow-white mittens

Theme: New animals kept going into the mitten

Opinion: I thought that this was a cute book to read to children. It would keep them laughing and engaged in the story and it would be a good story to test their memory of which animals were already in there, or which came first or last.