The Mitten

Jan Brett. Putnam Juvenile 1989, Hardcover, 32 pages, $4.54

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In this Ukranian folktale Nicki, a young boy, asks his grandmother Baba for snow-white mittens.  She protests that he will lose them in the snow, but because he wants them so badly she complies and knits some for him.  When he goes out to play, he does lose one, and it is found by a chilly mole who cosies up inside to get warm.  When a rabbit happens by, he crowds into the mitten, followed by a hedgehog, an owl, a badger, a fox, and a bear.  Finally a tiny mouse comes along and, perching on top of the great bear’s nose, causes him to sneeze, and all the animals tumble back out.  The mitten is thrown into the air and Nicki, on his way home, finds it.

The story is told with well-paced, pleasant repetition and a funny, dramatic climax with a visual joke at the end, as Baba inspects the mysteriously enlarged mitten.  Nicki is a likable and energetic child with a nurturing, sensible adult caretaker, and the animals are rendered in their animal characters, with only a shade of human personality.  But it is the gorgeous illustrations that really make this story: each scene is rendered beautifully, enclosed in elaborate borders that include the traditional folk art of the region, with “peek-ahead” sights of Nicki’s activities as well as the next animal that will be introduced.  This story will surprise and delight children from a wide range of ages, from toddlers (there is a simplified board book version just for them) to readers.

Johnny Appleseed

Kathy Jakobsen Hallquist (Illustrator). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 1993, Paperback, 32 pages, $2.87

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

There are many legends about John Chapman, the quiet man who planted apple orchards across early America.  This book captures the romantic mystery of these legends, while emphasizing that they are based on a real person’s story.  The book opens as young Hannah spies him coming down the road toward her family’s homestead.  He stays for dinner, and leaves some apple seedlings for the family when he goes away.  Throughout the years he plants apple trees across the land.  When many decades later he returns to Hannah’s home, she thanks him for the years of apples that have nourished her family, and tells her grandchildren how she met him as a child.

This book, well-written in rhyming verse and illustrated by the gifted folk artist Kathy Jakobsen, is an excellent addition to any child’s library, but will be especially attractive for Christian readers because of its emphasis on John Chapman’s faith.  It is a tribute that conveys well how Chapman’s influence is still felt in American culture, and it ought to whet the appetite for exploring the history behind the legend.

Tops & Bottoms (Caldecott Honor Book)

Janet Stevens. Harcourt Children’s Books 1995, Hardcover, 40 pages, $8.98

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This tale is derived from European folktales and slave stories of the American South.  In it, the industrious but unscrupulous Hare is pitted against the profoundly lazy Bear.  Hare proposes that he and his family work Bear’s land (some of which which had originally been his) in exchange for half of the crops produced, and Bear may have first choice of whether he gets the tops or bottoms of the crops.  Bear agrees, chooses tops, and goes to sleep on the porch of his falling-apart house while Hare plants root vegetables.  At harvest time, when he receives only inedible leaves, Bear chooses bottoms for the following year, then sleeps through Hare’s planting of broccoli, tomatoes, and other surface-growing vegetables.  Roaring in fury at being tricked again, he demands a year of tops and bottoms — and Hare obliges with a corn crop, leaving Bear the tassels and stalks but keeping the corn cobs in the middle.

Trickster stories are moral tales, but not the kind in which a hero sets a good example.  There is no hero in this story — rather, the lazy bear provides an example of how not to act, since his laziness makes him vulnerable to being cheated.  He provides an excellent illustration for Proverbs 25:28, which states that a person without self-control is “like a city whose [defensive] walls are broken down.”  The simple, repetitive humor is all at the foolish Bear’s expense, but after the third transaction he learns his lesson.  From then on he farms his own land outside his well-maintained house), and never enters into another business deal with Hare.

There aren’t many funny books for children about the dangers of laziness, and this one is a keeper.  The story is brilliantly illustrated with lively, detailed paintings that carry the story, and and rather than reading from left to right it opens vertically to be read from top to bottom.  This feature complements the story theme, but does take a little getting used to for reading aloud.

The Tale of Three Trees

Angela Elwell Hunt. Cook Communications 2004, Hardcover, 25 pages, $4.94

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a folktale about three trees who grow together on a hillside.  Each voices a dream: one wants to become a treasure chest, one wishes to be a strong sailing ship, and the last wishes “to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God.”  When three woodcutters climb their hill, the first two trees believe they are about to fulfill their dreams, while the third is dismayed.  But all three dreams will have a surprising fulfillment:  The first tree becomes a manger for animals, which one day receives Jesus, “the greatest treasure of the world.”  The second becomes a dirty fishing vessel, which carries Jesus as he hushes the wind and waves with his voice.  The third becomes the Cross upon which Jesus is crucified — so “every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.”

This lovely tale illustrates the truth that although God’s decisions regarding the lives of His creations may seem inscrutable, He is always working for good purposes (Romans 8:28).  In having the trees as protagonists, the story also expresses that the creation, although marked by humanity’s fallenness (Romans 8:19-21), yet expresses His design and purpose to glorify Himself (Revelation 4:11; Luke 19:40).

While the book does not present the full story of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection to restore humanity to God (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Peter 3:18), it is an excellent complement to the story.  This would make a good addition both to your Christmas and Easter reading basket.

The Legend of the Christmas Rose

Charles Mikolaycak (Illustrator). Holiday House 1990, Library Binding, 1 pages, $4.00

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

This story is one of several Swedish legends explaining why the Christmas Rose blooms in winter.  Robber Father has been exiled from his village for stealing a cow.  One day, while Robber Mother is admiring the local abbot’s garden, she tells him that every Christmas Eve part of the forest blooms.  The abbot, taking this is a sign of God’s favor, persuades the bishop to pardon Robber Father if the story is true.  The abbot witnesses the forest blooming, but before he can pluck a blossom as proof, the lay brother with him cuts the miracle short with an outburst of unbelief and the bishop dies in the snow, grasping two shriveled flower bulbs.  The lay brother plants the bulbs in the abbot’s garden, and they bloom the next Christmas Eve.  Robber Father is pardoned, and the lay brother spends the rest of his life in meditation and prayer, hoping to gain forgiveness.

Although the story is well written and beautifully illustrated, biblically-centered parents will need to consider it closely.  The story hinges on whether Robber Father can be forgiven, and in the end he is pardoned on the basis of the miracle, with no expression of contrition for his theft.  The lay brother, in contrast, having realized his error in judging Robber Father, spends the rest of his life in penitence.  Robber Father is met with warm acceptance, the lay brother with clinging guilt.  This leads me to conclude that this is not so much a story about forgiveness, but is more of a moralistic story about religious self-righteousness.

Two sins are dealt with here — stealing and self-righteousness — but only the latter requires repentance.  Neither is considered in light of the basis for Christian forgiveness, which is that Jesus’ death enables God to forgive sinners, and sinners are commanded to forgive others (1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 18:32-35).  Apart from the grace that comes through the Cross, neither sin can be addressed biblically, and forgiveness rings hollow.

The Empty Pot

Demi. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 1990, Hardcover, 32 pages, $7.67

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful story about the importance of telling the truth.  Ping is the subject of a Chinese emperor who is exceptionally gifted at growing things.  When it is time for the old king to choose his successor, he tests the children of the land by giving them each a seed to cultivate and bring to him within a year.  Ping is unable to get this seed of all seeds to grow, and brings his empty pot to the king, whereupon the king reveals his wisdom in a surprise ending.

This is an aesthetic, moral story with an enjoyable mystery and very nice illustrations.  Caring for plants is a central part of the story, and the ability to get a plant flourish may be symbolic for nurturing a kingdom.  Although he gives his best, Ping fails at getting the seed to grow.  Nevertheless, he demonstrates courage in presenting his empty pot, and his honesty is well rewarded.

The Barking Mouse

Alfredo Aguirre (Illustrator). Albert Whitman & Company 2003, Hardcover, 32 pages, $8.91

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This is a hilarious retelling of a Cuban folk tale, which is also told in Uruguay and probably in other countries.  It’s prefaced by an author’s note telling about his boyhood as the child of Cuban immigrants, and how his grandmother, on learning that he’d abandoned Spanish as a teen, “got so mad threw food at me until I learned it again.”

The simple story, brightly illustrated, is of a cheerfully affectionate family who goes on a picnic.  Due to the rather foolish antagonism of the children, a cat comes to threaten the excursion and attempts to eat the mice.  The action comes to a climax when the cat is about to eat the entire family, and is resolved (I won’t quite spoil the ending) when one of them threatens the cat in an unusual way.

The book is lightly salted with Spanish phrases (a brief glossary is helpfully provided.)  It is a lighthearted yet sincere tribute to bilingualism, and the family’s unity and affection (notwithstanding the cowardice of certain members in hiding behind Mother) is delicious.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (Reading Rainbow Books)

Verna Aardema. Puffin 1992, Paperback, 32 pages, $2.87

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A very nicely illustrated retelling of a traditional Kenyan folktale, altered to fit the British style of cumulative nursery rhymes, reminiscent of The House that Jack Built.  The illustrations are evocative of African artwork, and unlike many children’s books that tell folktales, this one omits the near-obligatory animism and spiritism that permeates tribal cultures.  The tale of a shepherd shooting a hole in the clouds to water his herd is lighthearted in its delivery, but it also conveys on a child’s level the trouble that dry seasons can bring to a subsistence agrarian community.  This is good for children who grew up in a wealthy industrialized society where clean water is available at the turn of the tap. Stories like this one may begin to open their understanding to the fact that other people do not have access to the resources they take for granted.