One snowy day an elderly woman, Sarah, watches children gathering at the bus stop. While they never seem to notice her, she notices them, especially one little boy who has no mittens. That night, Sarah knits the boy a pair of cozy mittens and places them on the blue spruce tree for him to discover. It soon becomes a game, with the children looking for new mittens on the mysterious tree every morning, and Sarah joyfully knitting new ones each night.

sarah, an older woman, started making mittens for the different children around her neighborhood because they didn't have mittens. she hung them up on the tree and they would take them home. eventually she ran out of yarn and all the children had mittens. Then one day there was a basket of yarn for sarah, from the children that she gave mittens to.
1 book

Summary: An elderly woman named Sarah lives alone in her house and loves to watch all of the school children as they wait for the bus every morning. One day she notices a boy with no mittens, so she knits him a pair and hangs them on the Blue Spruce Tree before any of the children arrived the next morning. After that, she knits new mittens every night for all the children. Even though she has never talked to the children, she feels as if they are her own, and every time she runs out of yarn, she is always supplied with a new basket on her front porch.

Classroom Extension Ideas
1. I could do a project teaching the students how to do a simple knitting or weaving activity. Even if they won't be able to make mittens in class, they may descover they like knitting and be able to accmplish mittens or other big tasks later on.

2. Have them write or describe if they could have one item hanging on a tree for a suprise every morning, what it would be.

Summary: Old Sarah knits mittens for all the children waiting for the school bus and hangs them on the blue spruce tree at the bus stop.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Critique: This is a great example of realistic fiction, because the characters, setting, problem, and solution could all be real, but are not.

Theme: This story is about the importance of giving, and how great it is to receive something back, even when it's not expected.

Media: Mixed media

One winter day, an elderly lady named Sara noticed a little boy at the bus stop without mittens. A worried Sara knits him a pair of mittens and leaves them on a tree where he will find them. Secretly she continues knitting mittens and hangs them on a tree for children to find. Sara never spoke to the children but she felt that they had become family. Sara continues to make mittens and as her basket of yarn becomes empty it is mysterious filled.

This is a heartwarming story despite the fact the plot is somewhat unresolved. I didn’t like the fact Sara is still alone. The pictures are mellow and pastel. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to teach their children about having compassion for others.

This book could be used while teaching young children about the different seasons and temperatures. Older children can read thermometers and learn about Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures. I would have students write a new ending to this story revealing who put the yarn in Sara’s basket. For an art project students could cut and design their own mittens.