Noah's Mittens

by Lise Lunge-Larsen

We all know the story of Noah building the ark. Who would have guessed, though, that his woolly friends aboard the ark would help him make his most delightful discovery? With one of the world's oldest tales as its setting, Noah's Mittens is an inventive and humorous book about the miracles taking place all around us--even with the most ordinary things, like wool and water.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618329501
• ISBN13: 9780618329502
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.0" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

A dyed in the wool hit

I grew up the daughter of a fiber artist. There are, of course, a couple distinct advantages to growing up surrounded by wool day and night. You never lack for warm colorful sweaters. You eventually learn how to spin yarn from wool on a real live spinning wheel. You can dye wool with Kool-aid once in a while for kicks (this is true). On the other hand, there was one element of my fiber-rific life that never really won me over. My mother loved creating little brightly-hued felt balls out of wool. Just take an old pair of nylons, stuff a ball of wool into the toe, tie it tight, throw it in the washing machine and voila! Instant felt. I had actually forgotten about my felting past for a spell, until I picked up Lise Lunge-Larsen's recent attempt to spice of the Noah's Ark story. Entitled, "Noah's Mittens", the book sent me back to my feltin' youth with a rush of memory. Though I've seen plenty of picture books talk about sheep, where wool comes from, and sometimes even how to spin fiber, I've never seen anyone try to explain the process of felting to children. Credit Ms. Lunge-Larsen, then, with being one of the first. Thought you knew the story of Noah? Think again. There's more to that tale than meets the eye. As we all remember, Noah was told to build an ark and, because he asked good questions, he was able to create it, stock it with two of every kind of animal, and set sail. Not everything was hunky-dory on the voyage, however. Noah had sealed the boat with pitch which had seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, that meant that "no moisture or heat could escape". And even then, that might not have been so bad, had the sheep not suffered so terribly. Trapped in a situation where the wool fibers would lock together and shrink in the hold, the sheep are soon trapped in white, tight felt. Noah cuts it off and all is well, until the ark comes to a stop at the top of snowy icy Mount Ararat. Now Noah must make use of this new substance if he's going to find a way to navigate down the mountain in peace and comfort. You may remember illustrator Mr. Matthew Trueman from his eye-popping work on what may well be called the best Rosh Hashanah picture book ever, "The Day the Chickens Went On Strike", by Erica Silverman. As an artist, Mr. Trueman gives this book enough zip and verve to attract the eye, sometimes against its will. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not Noah's Ark oriented, and this title could easily have escaped my notice had Houghton Mifflin failed to engage Mr. Trueman's talents. "The illustrations are mixed media using pencil, gouache, acrylics, and collage, with an overglaze of oil paint", says the publication page. In other words, gorgeous. Pictures of Noah, whether he's plowing a field or tumbling down a flight of stairs are packed to brimming with energy and action. At times, his fingers and toes become geometric, echoing the boxy pattern of the ark and its denizens. Squares of action or c