Because I have a child who is still into picture books, I love it when I find children’s books about knitting.
Luckily the publisher sent me a copy of A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story about Knitting and Love by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
The book tells a really sweet story about Mrs. Goldman, the neighbor lady who knits hats for everyone else and ends up with a cold head herself. Sophia got her first hat from Mrs. Goldman when she was a baby, then she made pom-poms for the hats Mrs. Goldman made.
“Keeping keppies warm is our mitzvah,” says Mr.s Goldman, kissing the top of Sophia’s head. “This is your keppie, and a mitzvah is a good deed.”
Sophia notices Mrs. Goldman’s head isn’t covered because she gave away her hat, and she’s too busy knitting for everyone else to knit herself a replacement. So Sophia decides to try to knit her one, even though she’d decided when she learned to knit that “knitting is hard. And it takes too long.”
While the hat doesn’t come out exactly the way she expects, it is a precious act of love and allows Sophia to feel “her heart grow bigger and lighter, like a balloon.” Just what it’s like to make something for someone else.
This book is geared toward readers ages 4 to 8, or for anyone who loves to knit and wants to celebrate the joy in the simple act of giving. There’s also a pattern for a flat-knit hat and pom-poms included.
About the book: 40 pages, hardcover with dust jacket, published October 2016 by Random House Children’s Books. Retail price $17.99.
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