Where do all those lost mittens go? Despite Mommy’s warning not to leave her mittens at school, young Molly does, but for a good cause: She uses them to warm up a shivering turtle in her classroom’s terrarium. Mr. Jolly, her teacher, rescues them and puts them on the lost-and-found pile, prompting the refrain, oft-repeated, “Mittens, mittens, my, oh, my, a mountain of mittens piled up high.” In subsequent days, Mommy tries Velcro, crocheting, duct tape, etc., to keep Molly from losing her mittens. Apparently, it’s a school-wide epidemic: When the principal Mrs. Folly announces that students will not be able to leave the school without mittens, she triggers a rush on the mitten pile, as well as a hilarious disaster. Vane’s busy illustrations—in watercolor and dip-pen and India ink—are full of quirky additional jokes. A happy and sublimely silly tale—but why is a book about mittens publishing in the summer? (Picture book. 4-7)
