MISS MARY'S CHRISTMAS MITTENS

One teacher knits up a minor miracle.

Fresh snow on the day before Christmas vacation means a fun-filled, extra-long recess for Miss Mary’s class. But the event falls well below the beloved teacher’s expectations—the snow angels have no wings, and the hockey game is short-lived. The reason? All the children have to tuck their cold hands into their coat pockets. So Miss Mary, who loves to knit her own clothes, decides to make mittens for all the students for Christmas, but the store is out of yarn. Determined, she rushes home and unravels her own gloves, plus her hat and scarf. Realizing that’s not enough yarn for 20 pairs of mittens, she raids the rest of her house for more material. For two days, she knits and knits. On Christmas morning, the students find wrapped packages on their front steps. They pause their excited outdoor play to thank Miss Mary. Though the story focuses on the holiday’s values of giving and gratitude, it positions the best teachers as angelic, sacrificing miracle workers—a rosy perspective at odds with the efforts of actual, overworked educators. Andriani’s artwork has a classic feel, in the inked-cartoon vein of Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia (1963), illustrated by Fritz Siebel. The book includes instructions, aimed at intermediate knitters, for making a mitten ornament. Among a racially diverse class and small town, Miss Mary is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A tale of Christmas cheer hampered by a problematic takeaway.