Children’s Books About Yarn, Knitting & Crochet

I love being able to express my love of yarn through various ways, whether it be through fun yarnie tote bags like those we designed for the Lambert Collection or special yarnie greeting cards like our “Wool You Be My Valentine?” card designs! I was very excited to discover that there are many children’s books that center around yarn, wool, and knitting! Myla and Brielle have become very accustomed to seeing me knit and crochet with yarn and they frequently come along with us to the craft stores when we buy yarn. I borrowed a number of yarn-related books geared towards children from the library and was excited to read them to the girls! They loved reading these stories about yarn, and I thought I would share these books with you too, particularly if you have children who are curious about yarn as well! I think they would make fantastic baby shower or birthday gifts for the children of yarn-loving parents as it is a wonderful bonding experience to read these books and share our love of the fiber arts with children at a young age!

I will go through some of the books that I borrowed from the library and provide the Amazon affiliate links to each in case you are interested in purchasing them! You could always search for them at your local library first to see if you and your children like them before deciding to add them permanently to your book collections!

Joanna and Eric Johnson live in Colorado with their three children, and they have combined Joanna’s love of books and knitting to create this wonderful series of stories that Eric has illustrated! At the end of each book you can find some knitting patterns that correspond with the story. I think this is such a brilliant idea as you can create the items featured in the stories and really bring them to life!

Phoebe’s Sweater by Joanna Johnson: In this book, Phoebe’s mom knits Phoebe Mouse a beautiful red sweater as they welcome a new addition to their family. The knitting patterns include: Phoebe’s Sweater, Phoebe Mouse, and the Phoebe Doll Sweater.
Phoebe’s Birthday by Joanna Johnson: Phoebe Mouse goes on summer adventures and celebrates her 6th birthday with a special knitted dress. The knitting patterns include: Phoebe’s Sun Romper, Phoebe’s Sun Tunic, Phoebe’s Party Dress, and Phoebe’s Headwrap. Also included are patterns for Phoebe’s Spool Quilt and Phoebe Mermouse using fabric.
Henry’s Hat by Eric & Joanna Johnson: Henry the chipmunk loses his favourite hand-knit hat and follows the trail to find it as he encounters many woodland friends! The knitting patterns include: Henry’s Hat, Henry’s Letter Sweater with charts for all 26 letters of the alphabet, and Henry Chipmunk.
Freddie’s Blanket by Joanna Johnson: Freddie is a platypus who is growing up, and his mother knits him a new blanket that is just the right size for him as he tries to find a comfortable place to sleep. The knitting patterns include: Freddie’s Blanket, Freddie Platypus, May Platypus, Freddie’s Coveralls, and Baby Envelope.

These two books feature mothers who knit items for their little ones! It’s neat for our children to see these mama animals creating items with yarn just as we create items for them!

Knitty Kitty by David Elliott: Knitty Kitty knits hats, mittens and scarves for her three kittens to keep them cozy.
Shall I Knit You A Hat? by Kate Klise: With a blizzard coming, Mother Rabbit knits a cozy winter hat for Little Rabbit. He loves it so much that he asks his mother to knit hats for all his friends as Christmas presents, and each one is catered to each individual animal’s special features!

Yarn takes on a character of its own with these books!

Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski: Woolbur is a free-spirited sheep who does not like to follow what every one else does! I love how it talks about the different wool processes along the way such as shearing, carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving, and knitting wool! If you know any people who love to spin and dye their own yarn, this would be a cute gift for them!
Cat Knit by Jacob Grant: Cat and Yarn are best friends until Girl takes Yarn away and Yarn becomes completely different! Cat eventually warms up to Yarn when he sees how cuddly and warm he can be!
Edmund Unravels by Andrew Kolb: Edmund Loom is a cute ball of yarn who loves adventure! He learns to visit home every now and then so that he does completely unravel!

These two books are my favourites!

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett: Annabelle finds a magical box of yarn that never runs out! With all this extra yarn, she knits sweaters for everyone and yarn bombs her entire town as she covers everything with knitted sweaters! When a greedy archduke tries to steal Annabelle’s box, it eventually finds its way back to its rightful home! Don’t we all wish we had a magical box of yarn that never ran out?
Knit Together by Angela Dominguez: A little girl who loves to draw is interested in knitting just like her mom! She asks her mother to teach her so that she can make amazing things. She gets discouraged when it turns out to be harder than she thought, but they collaborate together to create a beautiful project. The little girl draws a picture, and the mom creates a knitted blanket that they share together using that picture! When I read this book to our girls, Myla immediately said, “Hey that girl looks like me, and that mommy looks like you!” It’s also a great story to read to your children when they are first learning how to knit and to remind them that it takes practice and patience, and that you can always work together to create projects!

Here are some other children’s books about yarn that I discovered through Amazon but have not personally read. They all have great reviews and look very interesting!

I came across these two knitting books for adults that are based upon classic literature that are well-loved by many!

The Best of Jane Austen Knits Edited by Amy Clarke Moore: This collection contains 27 Regency-inspired designs including cardigans, shawls, reticules and other accessories as well as projects for men and children. All the projects look very elegant, timeless and intricate. Throughout the book, there are interesting essays such as “Where Jane Lived“, “Jane and Knitting“, “Jane Austen, Multitasker“, “The Yarn in Jane Austen’s Hands“, and “Dressmaking in Jane Austen’s Time“. If you love Jane Austen and knitting, this is a perfect way to combine your love of the two! Keep this book in mind if you are attending any Jane Austen festivals or balls!
Green Gable Knits by Joanna Johnson: This collection of knitting patterns includes garments and accessories for both women and men inspired by the beloved classic, “Anne of Green Gables”. The patterns include Anne’s Carpet Bag, Matthew’s Vest, Marilla’s Apron, Diana’s Hat, Rachel’s Table Runner, Miss Stacy’s Shawl, Anne’s Sweater, and GIlbert’s Scarf, with each pattern accompanied by quotes from the novel. Joanna Johnson is the same author of the Phoebe series that I talked about above! Once again, if you love Anne of Green Gables and knitting, this is a fantastic way to knit an item that Anne herself would wear!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that some of these children’s books about yarn have piqued your interest! If you have any other suggestions or books that you love, please leave them in the comments below so that we can check them out! I did not come across any books that refer to crochet as most referenced knitting. I hope that one day we will have some children’s books that talk about crocheting since it is rising in popularity! Enjoy reading these special books to your children and introducing them to yarn and the fiber arts at a young age! Happy yarn reading!