Mittens to Share

by Emil Sher

Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-4296-0

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October 2016

In this study of contrasts (up/down, here/there, cold/warmth), a child enjoying a winter wonderland with a parent loses her blue mitten while sledding, making snow angels, watching a chickadee and creating a snowman.

From Mittens to Share 

by Emil Sher, 

illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Returning to the warmth of their home, the girl searches through the myriad of mittens–doesn't everyone have a mitten box in Canada?–and, with new mittens upon her hands, delves back outdoors to locate that obviously-holed and unravelling mitten and ultimately share it with the world outside.

From Mittens to Share 

by Emil Sher, 

illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Emil Sher's story is a simple one for the winter season and one that even the youngest children will be able to read fluently quickly. (The word count is less than 70 words, many repeated.) Enjoying the wonders of winter and the outdoors is a pleasure for most Canadians, and one that Emil Sher relates through both the child’s and parent's actions.  But it's Irene Luxbacher's art, a blend of dry-rubbed acrylic paint with collage work, that elevates the story to something extraordinary.  The snow is cold and wet, the landscape is magical, the mittens diverse and outrageously clever, and the story comes to life.  As Canadians, we know the story of lost mittens far too well (even as adults) and the shared experience of a lost and found mitten in a setting so familiar creates an tale evocative of winter memories of long ago and today.  With our own wet snow upon the ground here in southern Ontario, I hope that everyone has Mittens to Share with those they love and those who need them.

From Mittens to Share 

by Emil Sher, 

illus. by Irene Luxbacher

*************************

If a French-language edition is more to your liking, Une Mitaine Pour Deux has been released at the same time as Mittens to Share.