The purpose of this reading is to bring everything together: the text, the vocabulary, and the illustrations. The discussion and activity options focus on analyzing the main idea, theme, character traits, setting and how all of the story elements fit together.

During this reading your child and you will read the story all the way through. Two ways that you can add fun and improve recall during this reading are:

~You may switch roles and become the listener and the questioner as your child “reads”(retells) the story to you.

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The primary focus of this reading is to read the story and talk about new vocabulary. Read the series of pages before you ask the questions.

The Reading Comprehension Best Practice for this book is Answering Questions During Reading. Your child and you will be looking for connections between the text and the illustrations. They complement each other by providing different information to aid comprehension of the whole story. Remember any questions that occurred to your child and you as you enjoyed the illustrations. Look for answers to those questions as your read the text.

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To allow the brain to focus on the information in the illustrations this reading will look only at the illustrations and the information they provide the young reader. There are no right or wrong answers in this reading. If the pages are not numbered, page 1 is the first page of text.

Each full-page spread is full of information about the story and the culture of Ukraine. Inside each of the sidebar mitten cutouts is additional information about the plot. The animals appear in the cutout before they appear in the full illustration.

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The Mitten was published in 1989. It has continued to win national awards since its publication. The most-recent honor was given in 2007 when members of the National Education Association named it a “Top 100 Children’s Books of 2007.”Check out its popularity on www.goodreads.com where it has received more than 36,000 ratings and almost 500 reviews. Readers love Ms. Brett’s version of this folktale that is rich in the culture of the Ukraine. Note the cultural details in the clothing, the furniture, and the house. Many of the reviewers mention the elegant illustrations and the humor of Ms. Brett’s adaptation of the folktale.

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