‘Extra Yarn’, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

‘Extra Yarn‘, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (published by Walker)

This beautiful book has actually been on our bookshelves for a while and we’ve enjoyed reading it from time to time over the last few months.  However, C pulled it out again on Thursday once it began snowing and insisted that we read it because it was a ‘brilliant snowy book’!  Never one to refuse a request for some story-time snuggles and certainly never one to argue with anything snow-related, we have now read it many times in the last two days and frankly I’m lucky I managed to snaffle it away to write about it here!

Anyway, the plot features a plucky heroine by the name of Annabelle, who finds a box of colourful yarn in her otherwise snow-white,  soot-black town.

(N.B.  C did require a little chat about the fact that yarn was another word for wool, but he didn’t seem to notice the other subtle linguistic differences that appear due to the fact that this is a book by an American author (for example, “She went home and knit herself a sweater,” where in the UK we would use the word ‘knitted’).)

Other then requiring a little more attention from me as I read it aloud, the above point in no way detracted from our enjoyment of the book.  Annabelle initially faces unwanted attention and even ridicule when she starts knitting sweaters for everyone…

…but soon enough they realise just how snazzy they actually look!

However, even once she has made a sweater for pretty much every person in her town, Annabelle STILL has extra yarn.  C just loves shouting, “EXTRA YARN” when we reach the end of each page and we realise that the knitting is still continuing!  Given that he also loves ‘I Want My Hat Back’ and ‘This Is Not My Hat‘ (both by Jon Klassen and also published by Walker), C instantly recognised some of the images in this spread:

and was delighted to realise that he could draw comparisons between different work by the same illustrator.  Klassen’s distinctive style seems stark and uncluttered from a distance, but get close up (as C likes to do!) and you’ll notice that the expressions on the characters’ faces, especially their eyes, reveal otherwise untold thoughts and emotions.

Annabelle’s knitting – fuelled by the seemingly never-ending amount of extra yarn in the box – transforms her town, both literally and figuratively, and people are soon flocking from far and wide to congratulate her on using the magical box of yarn to create the snuggly sweaters that are bringing a smile to everyone’s faces.  However, as is often the case when things seem to be going swimmingly, this is when the baddy (boooooooo hisssssss) appears to steal the box of yarn and throw a spanner in the works.

Luckily, the magical box of yarn is not so powerful in the hands of someone with less than virtuous intentions and, slowly but surely, the yarn finds its way back to its rightful owner 🙂

This is a truly lovely story, brimming with understated gorgeousness and an inspiring message about how being different is OK and how doing things for other people is a often surefire route to happiness and fulfilment.  On top of all that, the wonderful wintery setting of this book makes it perfect for sharing this weekend as we all skip around in snow-induced wonderment, so I humbly suggest you sledge off to your nearest bookshop forthwith and secure yourself a copy!

TTFN

Tags: books with a message, Extra Yarn, feelings, Jon Klassen, Mac Barnett, Snow, Walker