Embark on an enchanting adventure in Jelly’s Mittens. Perfect for readers ages 6-10, this heartwarming children’s chapter book whisks young minds to a whimsical world filled with talking animals, daring quests, and the magic of self-discovery.

When 7-year-old Jelly puts on a mysterious pair of mittens, her ordinary day takes an extraordinary turn. With a swirl of snowflakes, she’s transported to a charming town in the North Pole, where squirrels chat, owls give wise advice, and polar bears share stories. The townsfolk insist Jelly must complete a series of exciting quests to uncover her true destiny. Along the way, Jelly faces challenges, makes unexpected friendships, and discovers her unique place in the world.

Chapter 1

The Pills

Jelly set up her old music player on the kitchen counter and turned on the ‘Happy’ song while she washed the dishes. It made her happy even though I was washing dishes at home during her school lunch hour instead of having lunch with all of the other kids at school

“Jelly come upstairs,” yelled Mr. Pill who was her father but she wasn’t allowed to call him Dad nor was she allowed to call her mother Mom. She had to call them Mr. Pill and Mrs. Pill.

She turned off the water faucet and ran upstairs.

“Yes, Mr. Pill?”

“Where is your music player?” 

“Downstairs.”

“Go get it,” he said.

Jelly ran back downstairs and brought the music player up to him. 

Mr. Pill threw it in the trash.

Jelly started to ask, “Why … ?”

But Mr. Pill towered over her and growled, “Go back down and finish washing the dishes.”

“But I don’t understand, I didn’t do anything bad. What’s wrong with it?” Jelly asked. 

“Are you questioning me?” he shouted. “How dare you question your father, you horrible child. Go downstairs and do not question me or I will make you sorry.”

Jelly walked back down the stairs to the kitchen feeling lonely and bad. She couldn’t understand why her father was so angry. She washed the rest of the dishes and got back to school just as the lunch bell rang. 

Jelly had a test after lunch, but she couldn’t concentrate because she didn’t feel good. After school, she raced back to her house to make dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Pill. 

She made spaghetti and meatballs and wondered to herself if Mr. and Mrs. Pill would remember that it was her seventh birthday the next day. Last year they hadn’t, but Jelly always had hope even though Mr. and Mrs. Pill were grouchy as usual when they came home that night. 

The next morning Jelly woke up early to wish herself a happy birthday. After that, she got ready, went downstairs, and made herself some toast with butter.

“Get me a toast NOW Jelly,” yelled Mr. Pill as he thundered down the stairs.Jelly gave him her slice of toast and prepared herself another one.  

“Are you giving me cold toast with grease on it Jelly? Do you not have any respect for your father?” he wheezed. 

Jelly said, “Sorry,” and made him new toast and put little pieces of butter and dollops of jam and dollops of peanut butter on a separate plate and gave them to him. 

Jelly loved peanut butter, she wished she could have some on her toast, but there wasn’t much left in the jar so she knew she had to leave it for Mr. and Mrs. Pill. Jelly sat down with her buttered toast and took a bite.

“What are you still doing here, Jelly? Get to school,” he said.

Jelly swallowed her toast down whole, then she cleaned up the counter, washed up, got her backpack on, and ran to school. By the time she got to the school, class had started. 

“What a tardy student, tardy students will be very lazy adults,” sighed Jelly’s teacher, Mrs. Prick. 

“Sorry,” Jelly said.

Jelly didn’t have any friends at school, it was hard to make friends because she had to go home for lunch, and she wasn’t allowed to play with anyone after school. But still, she had this secret wish in her heart that someone would wish her happy birthday. But of course, they didn’t, no one at the school knew it was her birthday besides Mrs. Prick and Mrs. Prick didn’t care about birthdays. 

As Jelly walked home after school she imagined that Mr. and Mrs. Pill suddenly became nice and that they would have balloons, a cake, and presents waiting for her when she got home. Jelly imagined having a party with lots of friends and food and singing and dancing. She crossed her fingers and wished and wished. 

Despite all of the wishing, no one was home when she got there. Jelly prepared a vegetable stew for dinner and then went up to her room and sat on her cot. Don’t be sad Jelly, just because no one else is celebrating your birthday doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate it yourself, she thought. And that was the best thought she ever could’ve had because that’s how she found her mittens.

Chapter 2

The Mittens

Jelly waited all evening for her parents to wish her a happy birthday. But it didn’t happen so she decided to go to Mrs. Doodad’s General Store to buy herself a present using the coins she had saved up when Mr. and Mrs. Pill rented her out to vacuum other people’s couches. 

The store was a few minutes walk from her house and as soon as she walked in, she smelled cinnamon and vanilla and kindness. She browsed through the whole store, finding lovely things like unicorn keychains and chocolate candles, and little pink pocket journals before she set her eyes on a pair of lovely red mittens with white polka dots on them. 

When she picked them up she heard the sound of jingle bells, but of course, she thought she was imagining things. Jelly decided they would be her birthday present to herself. She took them up to the counter for Mrs. Doodad to ring up.  

“These are gorgeous Jelly, that is so strange, I don’t remember placing them on the shelf,” said Mrs. Doodad. 

“How much are they,” asked Jelly.Mrs. Doodad turned the mittens up and down and inside and out, but she couldn’t find a price tag.

“Well, most mittens like these are $20,” Mrs. Doodad said at last.

Jelly’s stomach did a flip. She only had $15. 

“Oh, ok, thank you Mrs. Doodad,” Jelly said as she went to put them back.

“Don’t you like them Jelly?” Mrs. Doodad asked.

Jelly liked them but she felt disappointed when she said her next words, “I like them, but I think I didn’t bring enough money with me today, maybe I can get them next time.”

Mrs. Doodad was a very smart lady and also very kind so she said, “Well, I would love to see those mittens go to a good home. How does $10 sound to you?” 

“That sounds perfect Mrs. Doodad. Thank you,” Jelly said.

Mrs. Doodad wrapped up the mittens in brown kraft paper and tied the package up with twine.

“Here you go Jelly, I hope you have a lovely, warm December.”

“Thank you, you too Mrs. Doodad,” said Jelly.

Jelly felt like the happiest girl in the world as she walked home with her package. 

“Is my dinner ready,” Mr. Pill yelled as soon as she walked into the house.

“Yes, one minute,” Jelly said as she ran upstairs and dropped her package off in her room.

She went back down and served Mr. and Mrs. Pill their dinner and cleaned up the dishes she used to cook with. There was a little bit of the vegetable stew left and she had that with bread and butter before running upstairs to her bedroom. She ran fast because she had an idea. 

Jelly still had $5 left so she decided to go buy herself a little cake. The TV in the living room was on so loud that no one noticed when she slipped out the door and ran to the bakery. 

The bakery was full of beautiful big cakes with giant swirls and curls, ready for birthday parties thrown by parents who loved their children. Jelly chose a small slice of chocolate cake and paid exactly five dollars for it.

She skipped home happily. She opened the front door to the sounds of a television news show talking about the benefits of eating blocks of butter for breakfast. Jelly loved the nighttime because Mr. and Mrs. Pill liked nothing better than TV and were glued to it every evening which meant they left Jelly alone. Jelly marched upstairs to her room and shut the door. She sat down on her cot, unwrapped her cake, and bit into it.

“Happy Birthday to me,” Jelly said as she snuggled into her cot and continued munching on her cake.

She pulled her mitten package closer to her and unwrapped it. The moonlight shone in through her window and made the polka dots on her mittens sparkle. 

Jelly put her right hand into the right mitten, it was so warm and cozy and would definitely keep her hands warm all winter long. When she put her left hand into the left mitten she felt cozy and sleepy and then she felt swirly and whirly and then there were colors and circles and stripes and Jelly felt a rushing and a pulling and a whooshing. 

The whooshing stopped and Jelly still felt very sleepy so she lay down and went to sleep. She awoke in the morning with a start. For one moment she had this dreaded feeling that she was late for making Mr. and Mrs. Pill’s breakfast, with sleep in her eyes she ran downstairs.

Chapter 3

A Cheery Kitchen

She came to a sudden stop at the bottom of the stairs. In front of her was a cheery yellow kitchen with a big window and there was snow everywhere outside. The sun was just rising and gave the whole room an orange glow. 

Jelly rubbed her eyes and looked again. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Jelly jumped up and down, shook her head, and rubbed her eyes. The cheery kitchen was still there and so was the snow. 

There was a knock at the kitchen door. Perhaps whoever was knocking could tell her what was going on. Jelly walked over to the kitchen door and opened it. In front of her stood a bespectacled snowy owl. 

“Good morning, Jelly, wonderful to see you. I’m Mr. Bartholomew, I don’t think we’ve formally met before. Well into the test we go. You must prepare your jelly sandwiches for the half marathon this afternoon, and also make sure to let everyone know that they must stop here on the marathon route to enjoy jelly sandwiches,” Mr. Bartholomew said. Jelly blinked hard 50 times.