Many of us are familiar with the Jan Brett book, but this Ukrainian folk tale has a very interesting history! Here are songs, lesson plans, and resources for the beautiful story.
The History of the Folk Tale
”The Mitten” is a popular folk tale from Ukraine and dates back to the 19th century. Many people have taken the story and rewritten it.
The person who loses the mitten has changed depending on the writer. Sometimes it’s a man, sometimes a boy, and in my TpT song, a girl.
The animals in each story are different as well. In some stories, the animals have names and in others, they do not. Animals include a mouse, squirrel, fox, rabbit, owl, bear, frog, hare, wolf, boar, badger, mole, hedgehog, and a frog.
The story has been translated from Ukrainian to English, Japanese, Azerbaijani, French, German, and Russian. The story has also been made into a cartoon and into a Ukrainian postage stamp.
Companion Song Resource to the Books
This song is the perfect companion to the book by Jan Brett, has additive verses for the animals, and includes a simple Orff arrangement and easy one-chord ukulele part for the C pentatonic tune.
Based on the Ukrainian folk tale, The Mitten, the resource also contains the history of the folk tale, Kodaly rhythm and melodic sequence learning, and fun unpitched percussion parts for the animals!
Other Resources
- Tales from the Enchanted Forest-a wonderful site with a podcast of the folk tale and lots of information about its history.
- Free Books for Kids-an online readable version of the book translated by Irina Zheleznova.
- Vooks-an online video of the book by Jessica Southwick
- Overdrive-by Jan Brett, an online audio book available with your library account.
There are also resources for The Mitten on Jan Brett’s website: https://www.janbrett.com/
Ooh, nothing like resources from the author! Thank you, Rebecca!