Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen knit together a story of a girl named Annabelle who transforms her town with her gifts, and the abundance that grows from her generosity.
"On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color." So begins Barnett's (Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem) gently humorous and uplifting tale. Annabelle knits a sweater for herself and for her dog, Mars, and "there was still extra yarn." When a boy named Nate makes fun of her and Mars ("You two look ridiculous," he says), Annabelle replies, "You're just jealous." Though he denies it, "it turned out he was." Nate and his pooch, sporting sweaters, look less mean and downright contented. Barnett's turn of phrase becomes a refrain of sorts, as Annabelle's boundless bounty of yarn becomes legendary, and she wraps classmates, townsfolk and even buildings in colorful wool. A greedy archduke tries to buy the box of infinite wool for upward of $1 million, but Annabelle turns him down. And when he plots to steal the box, he gets his just deserts.
Klassen's sepia-toned illustrations of wooden-plank fences, birch trees and clapboard houses make the rainbow-colored makeovers pop. He connects the sweater-clad villagers with a hanging colorful thread, as if he did not lift his paintbrush except to turn the page. It acts as a subtle metaphor for the common thread of Annabelle's kindness, which connects them all. Fans of Klassen's I Want My Hat Back who feared the fate of the rabbit in that book will be pleased to see the bear and rabbit standing side by side, snug in their sweaters. Barnett and Klassen prove that a heartfelt homemade gift can nearly always warm a hard heart. --Jennifer M. Brown