Children’s Book Review: Charlie Needs a New Cloak

A shepherd shears his sheep, cards and spins the wool, weaves and dyes the cloth, and sews a beautiful new red cloak.

I’ve been infatuated with Tommie DePaola’s work since I can remember. The fact that this was about weaving just added a bonus! Charlie definitely needs a new cloak. His old cloak has holes in it and gets nibbled on by the sheep when he isn’t paying attention! What’s a young sheep herder to do?

I adore this book so much! The pictures and simple wording are amazing for young children, and it walks the reader through the steps to making clothing from sheep’s wool. First Charlie shears, then washes and cards, then spins. It’s all so amazingly simple when Tommie dePaola writes and illustrates it, and the book kept the kids engaged for quite a long time after the book was done. They had tons of questions!

As an added bonus, there’s a mischievous little mouse on each page that the kids can find. He tends to be up to no good, and the kids had a blast picking him out. In a society where most children have no idea where their clothes come from (and no it’s not Walmart) I think that this is an amazing book to spark conversation. Tommie dePaola does a wonderful job and I’m smitten!

Rating: 4 Keys to My Heart

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.