The little red left mitten and the little red right mitten enjoy their life as a pair, keeping Little One’s hands warm and toasty. But one day Little One loses the right mitten—and it’s off on an adventure through the forest! Passed among various woodland creatures, the little right mitten soon becomes tattered—yet it remains cherished, always, by those who find it. Meanwhile, the left mitten can’t help but worry about its old pal, even after a new right mitten is knitted. Will these dear friends ever see each other again?
Kirin Hayashi is the author of multiple picture books published in Japan. She writes poetry, picture books, translation works, and lyrics, including the children’s book Nibanme No Warumono, which won the 2022 Grand Prix of the Librarians’ Awards hosted by Nippan. Her works are also popular in China, Korea, and Taiwan. She and Chiaki Okada also collaborated on the picture book Akari (Light).
This is a story about a red mitten. The right and the left one. So I guess I mean to say two little mittens. That are red.
One day, after a busy day of the little girl playing outdoors in the snow, with her little red mittens, to keep her hands warm and dry, a mitten went missing.
The first one to find the mitten is the Fox. It places the mitten where it can be found. By the little girl.
But Mrs. Rabbit, finds the mitten and gives it to her twins. The pair adore the mitten. They have lots of fun sleeping together in their mitten.
The left mitten misses the right mitten and wonders where she is. “Is she happy?” he wonders.
But the mitten continues her journey with more animals. The mitten begins to grow fragile and raggedy. And the story continues with a confusing ending. I don’t understand what the author is saying. Somebody must help me.
Two little red mittens do everything together - until one day when the little right mitten is lost outside! It begins an amazing journey on it’s own, but never forgets it’s left hand twin.
This sweet story, greatly enhanced by the beautiful illustrations of Chiaki Okada, will enchant young children!
The thought behind this was good, the execution was sadly not.
This was a story about two little mittens who seem the have feelings and thoughts. They quickly get separated and the one mitten goes on a journey. Although the message behind the mitten passing through the cold season had a good premise, it really could have been more profound.
The story was just slow and it was hard for my 6 and 8 year olds to understand exactly what the message was without me doing a lot of explaining. This unfortunately isn’t a book I would purchase or tuck away for another read.
This was such a sweet little story! About a journey of a lost mitten. Worn by a little girl. Does the mittens reunite or does the little girl get a new one? Find out in this lovely book!
Two Little Red Mittens was a cozy and cute children’s book which tells the story of a bonded pair of mittens. The book touches on missing a friend, separation & hope. This would be a good read for any child, but especially someone who may be experiencing any of these topics.
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing Kids for the ARC!
I received this book out of a GoodReads give away. I thought the story was really sweet. My kiddo really loved it. The illustrations were beautiful in the book. I wish it had more of a rhyme to it but overall it was a good kids book.
This is a sweet cozy winter-themed book about what happens to a bonded pair of mittens when one becomes lost. The story touches on missing a friend, separation & loss and hope. I could see myself reading and recommending this to help a child cope with their feelings if they experience a close friend moving away or the misplacement and loss of a comfort object that's special to them. The illustrations are beautiful and have an old-fashioned vintage picture book quality reminiscent of works by Jan Brett, Dan Freeman or Ezra Jack Keats. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the book in digital format for review. I read this aloud to my 6 year old and we both thoroughly enjoyed it!
A book that ends with charm, even if it doesn't quite have it for all the rest of its short duration. It concerns a Japanese child and their mittens – one gets left in the snowy forest, and therefore lost, one day, but rest assured. Not only will the remaining mitten be knitted a new companion, but the animals will see, use, and argue over the missing one. Eventually the moral will prove that it's OK to be lost, and forgotten about and replaced – as long as you're of use and doing something important, then you can't ask for more. Not the most immediately grabbing of child-friendly morals, but that's what it boils down to, in this gentle piece. The artwork strongly evokes the wintertime and the creatures concerned, making this a wonderful thing to look at. Text-wise, we're almost given a whole paragraph of smallish text on each page, so it's wordier than some similar-feeling books. But it's not exactly a burden to read, and the glimpse at another world's highly prized picture books is never to be sniffed at. I was certainly grateful for the chance to see this, to the tune of four stars.
This book is sooooo precious! I absolutely adore the illustrations-they are so sweet and really just lovely. The art is so well done and amazing quality! I was very impressed! It catches the eye for sure and keeps readers (at least it definitely kept me) engaged and focused! It really helped me to spend time to enjoy the book rather than just rush through or read the words and be done quickly.🥹🧤🌨️
My niece seemed to really enjoy it but honestly my mom and I who are both adults, seemed to enjoy it even more! 🤣🫶💖
This is something I’d definitely recommend and would purchase for a child of my own or as a gift and I think it’d be very special and cute for winter time, Christmas, holidays, snow days, winter festivals, and the like! Especially if you love snow, animals, heartwarming and happy endings and an author’s writing style that is very much what I would call a “story teller”…which to me means, someone who can make you feel the words rather than just read it, experience the story rather than simply hear it, and captivate you with a tale that will warm you on even the coldest winter days!🫶🥰❄️
Thank you so much to Amazon Crossing Kids and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.
What an adorable story following the life of a loved but lost red mittens, the mitten then goes on such an adventure with many different forest critters. This was so special and so sweet.
The way this was written was stunning, you get swept into it, it flows so perfectly and wonderfully. The illustrations guiding it along were also stunning also seeing as the mitten changes, as the little one searches for it, as the mitten finds its self a new purpose in its life, from protecting little one to now protecting an animal.
This is a wonderful story to read with or to a young child, it’s so beautifully created, it’s a very relaxing read. It also could help if they have lost something important to them, as this will help them gain an imagination to what that missing item might be up too, that it’s still around just living a different life.
An absolutely beautiful book from start to finish and such a perfect read for the winter time that’s just around the corner.
De ce duo d’autrice et illustratrice j’avais beaucoup aimé Douce lumière. J’ai retrouvé ici la douceur qui m’avait tant plu.
Deux moufles ont pour mission de tenir au chaud les mains de Petite Puce. Malheureusement moufle droite se perd et va être trouvée par différents animaux qui vont tous chérir sa chaleur qui les enveloppe comme un cocon. Les illustrations au crayon de couleur de Chiaki Okada rendent à merveille la douceur de la laine et le froid de l’hiver. Les animaux qui se succèdent sont un régal pour les yeux, j’ai personnellement beaucoup aimé les lapereaux.
Le récit évoque au final beaucoup de choses sans en avoir l’air, je vous laisse en faire la lecture, mais je gage que vous le trouverez réconfortant.
I came across this via Betsy Bird's knitting booklist, which always offers some great suggestions. This one was her favorite (if she allowed her self to have one).
And I can see why. The details in the knitting are astounding, but the story itself is solid as well. Two mittens are together all the time... until they're not. They are separated by fate and chance drives them even further apart. But both end up making new lives on their own, and in the end this is such a powerful illustration of how even the best of friends (soul mates, partners) can find ways to carry on in the face of separation and even while still missing the other one.
Both the illustrations and the story are soft and beautiful.
This beautifully illustrated picture book is about two red mittens that belong to a young child. One day the right mitten is lost and can not be found. "Only the left mitten made it home. It was terribly lonely!" The mother knits a replacement but the left mitten never forgets the right one. In the meantime, the right mitten is found by a series of animals and is beloved by all of them. Yet, the right mitten never forgets the left mitten. Both mittens are content with their realities yet continue to wonder how the other is doing. Finally, the red mittens do see each other in passing and see that the other is okay. "Now they were both very happy." A touching story about friends separated but never forgotten. A poignant reminder for little ones that people we love will always stay in our hearts and happiness is knowing that special person is okay.
Even without the English translation from the original Japanese, the illustrations tell the story in clear bites making this book even more perfect for ESL reading together. The little red knitted mittens are a pair of lifelong friends even after one of them got lost and then was found by different animals each time and became beloved by each of them. Many thanks to Avery Fischer Udagawa for translating the story, and Chiaki Okada for the beautiful Illustrations that also tell the story. Well suited for reading WITH someone of ANY age especially ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library! I requested and received a temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions provided by Amazon Crossing Kids via NetGalley. Thank you!
Two Little Red Mittens is a sweet addition to my family’s holiday/winter book collection. The story is a simple yet eventful adventure. The book is illustrated beginning with the inside front cover in rich detail of cable knit stitching and throughout with a beautiful contrast of black and white with pops of the colors of the yarn of the mittens, the animals, berries, the fire in the wood stove, etc., ending with the intricate knit detail again. The action and the depiction of the mittens and the animals is a nice combination of realistic and imaginative. Much like the classic tale, The Mitten, the book Two Little Red Mittens helps remind my grandson to keep track of both of his mittens or can you imagine what might happen.
I read this book with my daughter and we both loved it
The story is really sweet and I loved the underlying themes as a mum. The illustrations in the book are great and they really suit the story - they are wonderful, delicate and the colours are all in keeping with the story.
The story is well written and I liked the natural flow to the story. It was easy for my daughter to read and follow. The book is one that could be used to speak to a child about sensitive subjects like separation and loss. The book has a positive ending.
It is 5 stars from me for this one - a really lovely story - very highly recommended!
The little red left mitten and the little red right mitten enjoy their life as a pair, keeping Little One's hands warm and toasty. But one day Little One loses the right mitten--and it's off on an adventure through the forest! Passed among various woodland creatures, the little right mitten soon becomes tattered--yet it remains cherished, always, by those who find it. Meanwhile, the left mitten can't help but worry about its old pal, even after a new right mitten is knitted. Will these dear friends ever see each other again?
5 stars I read a digital copy courtesy of the publisher Right mitten and left mitten work together to keep Little one's hand warm and mostly dry. One say Right mitten gets lost and has adventures of its own. Left mitten gets a new right mitten to work with, all the while wondering what happened to the first right mitten. One day, the two mittens see each other and know that even though they are apart, they are both happy. A warm fuzzy of a story.
This lovely, heartwarming story involves a pair of mittens. One gets to warm the hand of a young child, the other is lost in the forest, and becomes many things to many different creatures. It just goes to show that EVERYONE appreciates warm, wooly mittens in the winter. The beautiful illustrations by Chiaki Okada add to the charming appeal of the book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing Kids for sharing.
A young girl's mother has knitted 2 red mittens for her although one day she loses one of the mittens in the forest. The mittens miss each other desperately although the lost mitten has quite an adventure in the forest. A charming, quiet story with beautiful illustrations in muted neutral colors with the bright red pop of the mittens. Perfect story to curl up next to a fire and share with someone.
The illustrations in this book are so beautiful and nostalgic, I felt like I was reading the polar express. The story is short which is perfect for a Christmas bedtime story. The ending was not what I thought it would be but I’m not disappointed. This is a cute story that I know kids will love!
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.
This was a sweet story. A child has two mittens and loses one. This story follows the adventures of the left mitten while the right one wonders what happened to their friend. This book is sweet and a little sad, but with a happy ending. The illustrations are perfect for this sensation the authors making one want to feel.
this will make you cry ... good cry that is ... adult reading ... i think folks of all ages can read this ... so precious. great illustrations. will make you wondering. so creative. fun. get it for your kiddie poohs ... giftable. fun times. i was trying to think ... how i heard about it?!! i am not sure??! usually i find books thanks to Bookbub ... when they are free. can not recall this 1?
A gentle story of a lost mitten with strong echoes of Jan Brett's "The Mitten," with a succession of animals enjoying its increasingly fraying warmth. Visually, the pop of the red against the white snow also reminded me of Lita Judge's "The Red Sled" and Cordell's "The Wolf in the Snow." Too long to use in storytime, this would make for a good cozy bedtime book.
What a precious read! It's a gorgeous children's book about the incredible adventure of a red mitten in the wintry forest. It's heartwarming, cosy and adorable. The illustrations are such a delight. They have a sleek old-fashion quality. Full of positive vibes! Highly recommended!
this is rat slander. no but it's a cute book. nothing to write home about but it's full of beautiful illustrations accompanied by a cozy winter story. it's also only 1 of 2 bipoc-created selections for free books after choosing the no-bipoc selections of this month's amazon first reads 🤡
This is a story about a little girl with her red mittens. One day she accidentally loses the right one. The lost right mitten has quite the adventure along the way.