The Magic Ball of Wool

September 15, 2013
Knitting needles create a world of delight for small forest animals and a means of rescue for a blue whale in this Spanish import. After a ball of wool gently falls onto a hedgehog, a spider teaches him to knit. The other animals in the forest, curious as ever, come to visit. First, the mouse asks for a sweater, which magically turns into a ball of cheese. Mittens for a vain frog become a mirror. A balaclava for the bear becomes a shell that sounds of the sea. One hundred socks for a centipede become castanets. A scarf for a snail becomes a scooter. Alas, when the crab arrives all the way from the beach to ask for a strong rope to help a stranded whale, the hedgehog discovers that the wool is all but gone. Again, news spreads quickly, and the animals return their gifts. The hedgehog rewinds the bits of yarn from each item to fashion a rope, and butterfly emerges from the rope to save the whale. Writing in the style of a traditional folk tale, Isern has crafted a gentle story of camaraderie and magic with a light dose of ecology. Hilb's colorful art creates a fairy-tale world with spotted mushrooms, swirls of crayon lines and miniature domiciles that will delight young readers. Friendship, crafting and a touch of magic all in one. (Picture book. 3-6)

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December 15, 2013
Preschool-K When Hedgehog wakes up, he finds a ball of wool stuck to his quills. What's he supposed to do with it? A friendly spider shows him how to knit, and soon Hedgehog's needles are clicking away, and he makes a sweater for Mouse and mittens for Frog. Then an odd thing happenshis knitwear turns into their fondest dreams (a ball of cheese and a mirror, respectively). So it goes for all the animals in the forest. But when it comes time to help a beached whale, Hedgehog finds his yarn is almost gone. When those who have benefitted from Hedgehog's gifts hear about the emergency, they return their presents, and by tugging on the little piece of wool left in each, he unravels them and winds a ball of yarn. Now he has enough to knit a strong rope, which turns into a magic butterfly, who is able to carry the whale back out to sea. The text is overexplained and could have used trimming, but the watercolor pictures sweetly capture the spirit of wonder and cooperation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)