Librio Library #17 – Extra Yarn – Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
2 minute readWhy we chose it
When Extra Yarn arrived in Librio Towers a couple of weeks ago, the first person who read it said, “This is definitely going to be the next Librio Library book”. And how right they were. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen have created several wonderful books together – most notably their Shape Trilogy – but this one, their first together, is something extra specially wonderful.
A great way to summarise the book and give an impression of what awaits is to quote the tantalising first few lines:
“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.”
Annabelle then goes on to use that wool to make sweaters for everyone and everything in the town until an evil Archduke comes to take the box from her.
Favourite image:
Call us predictable, but seeing the bear from I Want My Hat Back, Librio's second-ever Librio Library book, dressed up in one of Annabelle's sweaters was a lot of fun.
Although, perhaps we should say this image of Annabelle walking with her dog, Mars, because apparently it was Jon Klassen drawing this image in isolation which led Mac Barnett to write the entire story around it.
Kids will like:
This was a funny one. Our kids absolutely loved it and wanted to read it every night for a week. However, when pressed, they couldn't really say why they liked it. This feels very representative of the book. It wraps you up in its warm sweater and it's just a joy from start to finish without any real stand out highlights (other than the bear in a sweater, of course).
Parents wil like:
Jon Klassen's illustrations are always a pleasure, but we particularly enjoyed the timelessness of the book. For almost the entire book, it could be set in the 1800s, but then there's Annabelle, knitting a sweater for a pick up truck.
If you like this book:
This pair have a famous Shape Trilogy about Square, Circle and Triangle, which you will have seen if you've been to a book shop recently. The book also reminded us a little bit of the also-amazing Mr. Tiger Goes Wild which starts off black and white and ends up in a world of colour.
As a bonus, here's a fun animated version of the story if you'd like to keep your little ones entertained as the nights draw longer.