The Helping Sweater

by Rachel Más Davidson, Rachel Más Davidson (illustrator)

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Knitting, Storytime, Kids

40 pages, Hardcover

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

Rachel Más Davidson is the author-illustrator of I Love You Mucho Mucho (Beaming Books) and The Helping Sweater (Little, Brown), and the illustrator of Pocket Full of Sads (Penguin Random House), The Littlest Food Critic (Nancy Paulsen Books), and I Like Your Face (Kids Can Press).

Rachel is a Cuban-American who lives with her family in Texas. She works from home and has two canine “coworkers'' that are always keeping her company and making things slightly smelly. Some of Rachel’s favorite things to do include…eating cake with her family, going to art museums, receiving long hugs from her Abuela, sitting on her front porch, telling the stray cats to stop pooping in her flowerbeds, and writing and illustrating charming little books for kiddos! Before making books, Rachel taught art to kids of all ages which was lots of fun because art is the best and she loves sharing it with students!

Reviews

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story means well, but the kind of giving exemplified by this little girl goes beyond being helpful and borders on compulsive generosity to the point of harmful self-sacrifice. Being a giver is not always ideal—especially for girls and women—because givers are often unnoticed, unrecognized, and unrewarded for their generosity. Does anyone notice that the girl is wearing just a t-shirt in sweater weather? Apparently not. Moreover, the cute, colorful illustrations reinforce the stereotype of females as givers with porous boundaries, which leads to exploitation, particularly by males. Sure enough, two-thirds of the people the girl “helps” in the story are men and boys.

[Beth Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Helping Sweater is a beautifully written and illustrated book about the joy of helping others. When Maya’s sweater snags, Maya finds that the loose thread can be a help to many people in her world. I think one of the things that make this book so special is that Maya is not asked for help anywhere in the book – she simply starts to see where she can help and then selflessly jumps in! With Maya’s example, this story can inspire kids to look beyond themselves and find opportunities to be a helper in their own communities. The illustrations are delightful and provide a lot to look at on every page (and don’t miss the cute cat under the jacket!).

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers are introduced to Maya, a young girl who is excited that it's finally cold enough outside to wear her favorite sweater. While eating breakfast, her cat Whiskers begins to play with a loose piece of yarn and her sweater begins to unravel. Maya is devastated but she sees that the cat is happy so it lessens the blow. On her way to school she encounters several opportunities in which more pieces of her sweater become helpful. By the end of the day Maya is the one who needs help as her sweater is gone and she is quite cold. Help comes from a woman on the bus who pulls out a sweater from her box of donations.

A wonderful, sweet story of kindness and helping behavior. Highly recommended.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good for teaching little kids about helping! It is my niece's favorite book! Maya is such a cute character. I think we can all relate to when you get help from someone unexpected. This is a great read, I recommend it to all.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl's unravelling sweater becomes unexpectedly helpful to multiple members of her community---from a shopper who needs help securing grocery bags to his bike to a fellow kid who rips his pants on the playground. It concludes with a sweet example of "pay it forward."

However, please think twice before imitating the use of yarn with animals--despite the cartoon images, yarn is actually dangerous for cats, and long strands of string are a hazard for birds as well.

[SamSamSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me smile really big. There's minimal text, so a lot of opportunities for readers to practice their own narratives skills. Also some fun opportunities for inference when the solution to each problem is on the following page. This would make a great preschool readaloud, but would also do well in an ECE classsroom. TALK, social-emotional

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overall message, but people shouldn't offer yarn or thread as nesting material for birds. It can tangle the chicks' legs and cut off circulation. Yes, birds have been helping themselves to our leftovers for millennia.

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really cute story about a girl whose sweater keeps unraveling so she uses the yarn to help others.

[RG]

Cute read, children helping others by giving what they have. Reminds me of the giving tree, gives new meaning to "offer[ing] the shirt off your back."

[Ethan Frederickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really sweet. The little girl gives part of her sweater to help others. It has a good message and was well done. The kids gave it 5 stars.

[M M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Love, LOVE

[K Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet. Would pair well with the story Extra Yarn.

[Jaye Latts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable story and illustrations!

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl uses her sweater to help those around her. Reminds of me Rainbow Fish.

[Juliet Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable and would be perfect for an intimate reading with one or two kids. For a big group storytime setting though, it's a little hard because the kiddos can't always make out the nuances of the illustrations if they're more than a few feet away.

But if you've got a one-on-one situation, this book is lovely and teaches gentle lessons about kindness and helping others.

[Dads4Reading Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Helping Sweater is BEAUTIFUL! The story is well-paced and easy to read to young kiddos. It has a wonderful message about the power of helping, but it never feels heavy-handed or preachy. What stands out most are the illustrations. There’s so much to look at on every spread. In fact, each time I read it, there’s a new detail that catches my eye. I highly recommend it for kiddos of all ages!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Giving Tree for a new generation.