The Mitten Tree

by Candace Christiansen, Greenstein Elaine

One snowy day an elderly woman, Sarah, watches children gathering at the bus stop. While they never seem to notice her, she notices them, especially one little boy who has no mittens. That night, Sarah knits the boy a pair of cozy mittens and places them on the blue spruce tree for him to discover. It soon becomes a game, with the children looking for new mittens on the mysterious tree every morning, and Sarah joyfully knitting new ones each night. With its touching message and delightful illustrations, adults and children will enjoy this intergenerational tale for years to come.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Christmas, Knitting, Storytime

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 1995

About the author

Candace Christiansen grew up in the Hudson River Valley. Educated at the College of Saint Rose and Cornell University, she became interested in weaving and fiber arts while living in South Westerlo, New York, where she raised four children and forty sheep. She has been a teacher of chemistry, math, weaving, and spinning at the Hawthorne Valley School for 20 years and is currently the head of the Fiber Department at Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts.

Reviews

[Emily Thevenin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable book about an old woman that knits mittens for children in the neighborhood. I thought it was adorable because I've heard stories about my great grandmother that would do the same thing.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is so touching, I wept while reading it to my son.

[معصومه توکلی · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستانِ لطیف و نقّاشی های لطیف و عشق ما به برف را
بیافزایید به یکی از اوّلین مواجهه ها با ابهام در پایان بندی و سؤال های بی جواب در انتهای داستان!
در دو سال و هشت ماهگی!

خوب معجونی از آب درآمد! فراتر از انتظار!

[Melody Kephart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrator: Elaine Greenstein
Publisher: Scholastic
Date of Publication: 1997

Genre: fiction narrative picture book
Reading Level: age 4-9
Theme: friendship, loneliness, giving, contentment

Curricula use: use as a read aloud, shared reading, and independent reading
Social Issues: Community awareness.

Text & Pictures: The illustrations are wonderful. Greenstein used watercolor to blend the story together. The pictures and the text go well together.

Summary: An older lady, Sarah, is lonely because her children are all grown up and then she sees a little boy who does not have mittens. She decides to knit him some mittens and put them somewhere where she knows he will find them. She then decides to knit a bunch of gloves for all the children. She mysteriously places the mittens on the tree near their bus stop early every morning. No one knows where they come from but someone must because she keeps receiving baskets of yarn on her doorstep. Sarah is not lonely anymore.

[Jeanette Frank]

This is an all time favorite read! The Mitten Tree is a story about an older woman who lives alone after her own children fly the nest. She notices a kid at the familiar bus stop where her children used to go without gloves. She knits him and pair of mittens and starts a wonderful heartwarming tradition. I use this book in my third grade classroom and it always proves to never disappoint! I just love the way my students get so involved in the storyline. I ask a lot of questions throughout the read aloud. The ending is my favorite because of how it is open ended. My students are puzzled by the ending every time I read it and it leaves such a great chance to have a class discussion. I also use this story with The Mitten which is retold by Alvin Tressel and we compare and contrast the two pieces of text. My students found a lot more in common with these two pieces of literature than I anticipated. My students love this book and we would recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it!!

[Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the mystery in this book! In most children's books, you find out who did it, but at the end of The Mitten Tree, you still don't know who is bringing Sarah the yarn! The pictures in this book were also captivating.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah 's children are all grown and out of her nest and she is sad and lonely. She spends her time looking out her window at the children catching the bus for school on her street. On a cold winter's day she notices the children are all playing in the snow except for one little boy. He is not participating because he has no mittens to wear and his hands are cold. Sarah's heart goes out to the little boy and she goes immediately and starts knitting him a pair of mittens with some left-over wool that she has kept. After their completion she takes the mittens and hangs them carefully on the big blue spruce tree right by the bus stop for the boy to discover and own.

Sarah's generous heart prompts her to knit more and more mittens and hang them on the tree for the other children to enjoy too. The big blue spruce becomes a homestead for them... a beautiful, colourful mitten tree.

The children, so touched by Sarah's willing to give freely, surprise her with a huge ribbon-wrapped basket of yarn so she can use it to continue knitting mittens and thus bless the other neighbourhood children if needed. Although Sarah never interacts personally with the children their hearts make a significant impact on each others.

"To this day, Sarah knits mittens for all the children in her town. Every time her basket is empty, a new full one appears. Sarah doesn't know who the yarn is from. The children still don't know who the mittens are from. But someone must..."

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has to be my new favorite children's book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah, an old woman with grown children, is lonely and unnoticed. Rather than succumbing to bitterness, she finds a way to serve others and is served in return. I cried happy tears as I read this to my children. We had a good discussion about service as well as the elderly and how special children are. Anonymous service can be a really beautiful thing. However, in this case, I think everyone would have benefitted relationship-wise from being less anonymous.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart-warming tale of kindness and generosity. I really like that the woman sees a problem and takes concrete action to help, which is a great message for kids. She doesn't do anything huge, but she makes a difference. Really sweet.

[Andrew Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fine, and the writing was OK. It felt like the book was a good start to the first half of a story. I also kept waiting for the kids to leave a thank you note at the tree or show their appreciation in some way but neither happened.

[Sarah (YA Love) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boys and I read this one as part of Jack’s lesson on community and we really liked it 💕

[Rowena Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful story with a mystery at the end!

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this book. Story of a lonely older women who started knitting mittens for children at the bus stop.

[Amir Hossein Miri moghaddam · Rating 4 out of 5]

یه داستان بامزه با روایتی که هم از پذیرش تنهایی و متفاوت بودن میگفت هم یک سری اطلاعات علمی میداد و هم کنار اومدن با مرگ حتما بخونیدش.

[Maki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story about an older lady helping a poor child by making him gloves and then the whole community giving back to the lady with yarn each year to make new mittens for the children.

[Christine Turner]

One snowy day an elderly woman, Sarah, watches children gathering at the bus stop. While they never seem to notice her, she notices them, especially one little boy who has no mittens. That night, Sarah knits the boy a pair of cozy mittens and places them on the blue spruce tree for him to discover. It soon becomes a game, with the children looking for new mittens on the mysterious tree every morning, and Sarah joyfully knitting new ones each night. With its touching message and delightful illustrations, adults and children will enjoy this intergenerational tale for years to come.
Candace Christiansen grew up in the Hudson River Valley and was educated at the College of Saint Rose and Cornell University. She has been a teacher of chemistry, math, weaving, and spinning at the Hawthorne Valley School for twenty years and is currently the head of the Fiber Department at Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts. Elaine Greenstein began making children's books about fifteen years ago and is the author and illustrator of the popular Ice Cream Cones for Sale . She lives with her husband, Jose, in Brooklyn, New York.


Subject: Mittens -- Juvenile fiction.
Neighborliness -- Juvenile fiction.
Old age -- Juvenile fiction.

[Andrea Wickenhagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect story to warm the hearts of its readers. The Mitten Tree is about a lovely lady named Sarah that happens to be very lonely for all of her children are grown and out of the house. Every morning as the towns children wait for the bus down her lane she looks out and watches the children play listening to the sound of their laughter. Until one day Sarah looks out an notices a boy standing all by himself dressed in blue with his hands in his pockets. It is not until the boy gets onto the school bus does she notice the poor boy has no mittens. And so it begins, Sarah knits a pair of mittens for the young boy, and hurry's out before the school bus returns and hangs them on the big spruce tree. From that day on Sarah continues to watch the children and knit mitten for the children, while at the end of the day or early in the morning she walks down her lane and leave the mittens on the big spruce tree. This heart warming story is great to read during the cold winter months, it is a fun and loving story that shows that a little act of kindness can go a long way and touch someones life, while also being rewarding. A great read for kids and people of all ages.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author: Candace Christiansen

Illustrator: Elaine Greenstein

Genre: Narrative picture book

Publication Info: Scholastic (1997)

Reading Level: Early Transitional

Topic/Theme: Charity or donations/ Friendship/ Giving

Issues Addressed: The gift of giving.

Classroom Uses: Shared Reading, Read Aloud

Summary: Sarah sees a little boy who does not have mittens. She decides to knit him some mittens and put them somewhere where she knows the boy will see them. She ends up knitting a bunch of gloves for children. She ends up getting a basket of yarn on her doorstep which shows that her knitting is appreciated.

Text and image: The illustrations are beautifully done in watercolors. Greenstein masters the correlation of color and winter. The text matches with the images wonderfully.

Literary Devices: figurative language, imagery, irony

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story about Old Sarah who wistfully remembers the days when her own children were little. She watches the neighborhood children wait for the bus and thinks back to the time when she met the bus with them. One day, she notices that the some of the kids don't have mittens, even though it is cold outside. Sarah sets out to make the kids some warm, comfy mittens. She secretly hangs them on the blue spruce tree and watches for the kids delight and wonder. Not only does Sarah have a sense of purpose, but the kids are kept warm and comfy.

Then, one day, someone (who?) secretly delivers a big basket full of yarn for Sarah.

Used for "Mittens and Hats" Story Time: February, 2012.

[Ailsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book, and my 6-year-old daughter loves this book. She brought it home from the school library a couple of times before I decided to buy it. Sarah sees children that needed mittens, so she knit some and left them on a tree. It's hard to tell who really knows where the mittens come from, or the wool that Sarah uses. I love that there is no real resolution provided to some questions that could be asked, which I'd encourage be discussed with children. Why don't the children ever look at Sarah? Does Sarah mind that no one seems to really see her? Where does the wool come from? Does anyone know who makes the mittens? The book makes me cry, in a good way.

[Mommywest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book that teaches the joy of giving. Old Sarah, whose children have grown up and moved away, still watches the children gather at the school bus stop near her home. One wintry morning she notices a boy that has no mittens. What she decides to do next starts a fun tradition that warms every pair of hands and especially every heart. Perfect for Christmas time and for supporting parents or teachers in helping children learn how wonderful it is to give to others.

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so wonderful ! It has so many moments to teach from . It embodies a women who sews mittens for the students that she sees leaving on the bus for school and puts them in a tree . The book teaches students about so many people that may help them and they do not realize it like teachers , family , and principals . It is a good book to read for good classroom and community etiquette and helpfulness!

[Knitology]

One winter day, elderly Sarah notices a young boy at the bus stop without mittens, so she knits him a pair and leaves them on a tree where he'll find them. She continues to knit (anonymously) and leaves mittens for the children who need them. One day, a large basket of yarn is left on her doorstep, enabling her to continue her work. The story is well told, warm without being treacly.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new book to our school library. I read it to my youngest son's class for parent reading. The story of giving back to others, "paying it forward", and finding/building community is woven throughout as Sarah reaches out to the children in her neighborhood by knitting them mittens for the cold weather. Someone, in turn, gives back to Sarah.

[Usaamah Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end of a long lane, in a tidy little house, old Sarah lived alone. Her children had grown up and moved away, but sarah still remembered the mornings when she walked with them to the blue spurce tree where they waited for the school bus. Now each morning she opened her shutters and watched for new children to arrive

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

too long for storytime but a heartwarming tall of an older lady no seems to remember who notices a boy with no mittens so she knits him some and leaves them on a tree she continues for other children and someone keeps refilling her yarn basket.

[Jj · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a lovely story, but the illustrations are muted colors, and hard to share with a group. I would like to see this one re-illustrated someday since the story is a good one with an important message about kindness.

[Cws]

JEAR3-Chr

[(NS) Maria]

Mitten