AUNTY JANE KNITS UP A STORM

Friends help when a grieving knitter adversely affects the weather in Wolfson’s picture book.

In this lovely, deceptively simple work about the death of a loved one, Aunty Jane knits while she cooks, takes a walk, and goes shopping. At night, she knits as Uncle Wally sits next to her in his comfy chair. When Wally dies, the yarn spooling out from Jane’s needles is dark gray. Soon “most of the town was covered in the fierce-looking storm Aunty was knitting up” as her “needles hissed like the wind.” Her young friends, Naomi and Xavier, and others in town comfort her, speaking of Wally and wearing colorful clothes she’d knitted for them. The expressive characters are rendered in vivid pen and ink, with illustrations that include a child using a wheelchair and a diverse mix of skin tones; lavish patterns and textures give fabrics and settings a sumptuous, three-dimensional look. When Aunty Jane can smile again—a mischievous cat named Stitch helps—bright-colored yarn begins appearing among dark clouds. The result, “perhaps Aunty Jane’s most spectacular knitted creation ever,” is celebratory, but not a glib resolution; it’s a segue to a moving coda that makes clear that a lost loved one will always be missed but that there can be room for happiness.

A well-illustrated story of grief, compassion, friendship, and community, told with tender charm.