Knit your Bit: A World War I Story by Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by Steven Guarnaccia
Review by Brenna B. (demiducky25)
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a WWI historical fiction picture book for children before, so when I saw this on display at a local library, I just had to check it out! This story is about a boy named Mikey who wants to do something big to help the war effort, especially since his Pop is over in Europe fighting. Mikey’s Mama and sister knit hats and scarves for the war effort and invite Mikey to join them, but he refuses since he considers that a small effort and is certain that “boys don’t knit.” His sister tries to convince him otherwise by showing him a newspaper article with firemen knitting as a group and a political poster with a boy knitting on it, but Mikey steadfastly refuses. Mikey finally decides to try knitting when the boys at school are egged on by the girls to enter the Central Park Knitting Bee to help the war effort. But knitting for Mikey and his friends Nick and Dan is a lot harder and more time consuming than it looks. It’s not until Mikey talks to a war veteran who lost a leg that Mikey realizes that small efforts lead to big change and that impacting just one person is enough to be considered “doing something big.” Will Mikey give up or will he continue to knit?
I thought that this book was very good! Even though it’s set during WWI, the message this book sends could be applied to today as well. It also provides a number of topics for discussion: war, returning soldiers, challenging socially constructed gender roles, community service, and more. The author’s note at the end provides historical context for parents/ teachers as well as for children. The note discusses the real knitting clubs of WWI as well as the real three-day “Knit In” at Central Park in NYC. It ends with information for modern day knitting for soldiers and other charities. I started loom knitting last year and have already made hats for pretty much everyone I know, so now I can channel those efforts elsewhere using the resources in this book! I think for Christmas I might get a copy of this book and a beginner’s knitting kits for the kids in my life who are old enough to give it a try. Speaking of age, Amazon lists this book as appropriate for grades K-3. I’d agree that children younger than kindergarten might have a hard time understanding this book due to content (the language is simply enough but it does hit on some complex themes). However, I think it can be enjoyed by kids older than 3rd grade and for those of us who are kids at heart!
My rating- 4 out of 5 stars
