Bigfoot and the Mitten, written by Karen Bell-Brege, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Student Reviewer: Emma L.
Summary: The book Bigfoot and the Mitten is based on the fictional, friendly character Robin telling a story to his woodland friends. The story was based on Bigfoot trying to find his lost mitten and going on an adventure throughout Michigan with Robin to try and find it. The two go on a humorous and delightful journey throughout Michigan’s beautiful monuments, like the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Grand Haven, Traverse City, the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Bridge, Detroit’s Joe Louis Fist, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, and the Michigan State Capitol in search of the mitten. Near the end of the book, the two visit the State Capitol in an attempt to find a map. The story ends when they find out that Michigan, in the shape of a mitten, was where his mitten was all along. When visiting these monuments, they review the purpose and detail of each monument, like how they explain that the State Capitol is for Michgan’s government, legislature, and state police. The last two pages of the book lists some details of all of Michigan, like the state capitol, bird, fish, flower, sports teams, and more.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This book is a very useful and clever method of teaching children the ins and outs of the state of Michigan. The book’s illustrations are very colorful, cartoon-based, and not overwhelming. If readers have traveled across Michigan, they will recognize some of the scenes. The way the illustrator, Darrin Brege, created the woodland characters makes them seem very human-like and relatable. They could be used as a good example of personification. The text utilizes rhyming throughout some of the text, which makes for a good read-aloud. If introducing literary devices to a class, students could use travel as a theme for this book. All in all, the book The Bigfoot and the Mitten subtly teaches readers about Michigan in a geographical sense and leaves the reader enjoying Robin and Bigfoot’s journey. This is a good book to add to your Michigan collection.