Book Review: The Mitten

MANCHESTER -- Her colorfully illustrated children's stories have filled bookshelves in homes and elementary schools for years.

And Friday, fans of all ages attended the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester to watch Jan Brett do an illustration demonstration, talk about how she gets ideas for her books that have appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers lists and sign autographs for close to two hours.

"We had all her books when we were kids ... and now it's nice to be able to share them with him," said Amy Squires as she held her 9-month-old son, Tyson.

Squires and her sister, Julie Zsiga, said their mother works at the bookstore so they grew up reading a variety of books that included many of Brett's, which Squires said caught their eyes with Brett's watercolor illustrations -- often of animals and snowy nature scenes.

Brett appeared at the Northshire Bookstore after releasing "The Mitten: 20th Anniversary Edition" and "Snowy Treasure."

Dozens of children sat on the floor in front of Brett as she drew a bear inside a mitten -- a scene depicted in "The Mitten." The 15-minute demonstration with marker was much quicker than the illustrations in her books, which she said takes her about an hour per inch, but the techniques that go into her work hit home with the children as they gazed at the paper as the illustration came together.

Christina Ripley and Erin King, teachers at Happy Days Play School in Arlington, said they read a number of Brett's books in class and they are always popular with the children because of the animal characters in many of the stories and the illustrations.

"We all read the stories," Ripley said. "And they act out the stories ... it's a lot of fun."

Brett arrived in a large tour bus illustrated with artwork from "The Three Snow Bears," which impressed many of the children and adults alike when they saw it parked outside.

"I can't believe Jan Brett has her own bus," one kid exclaimed to his friends when he arrived.

Brett was accompanied by her furry friend "Hedgie," a character who appears in all of her books, who posed for picture with the audience.

With almost 33 million books in print, Brett also contributed to the shelves at local libraries by donating five copies of "The Mitten."

She also gave some words of advice for other young artists, to turn off the television and radio sometimes and pick up crayons and markers.

The Northshire Bookstore will host other authors and filmmakers with national acclaim as filmmaker Ken Burns comes to the Equinox Hotel Nov. 30 and Stephen King comes to Manchester Elementary-Middle School Dec. 2.

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