Everything went well enough at first when Cousin Clara unexpectedly came to stay with Lester's family. ?Clara didn't make unsavory noises or rearrange Lester's Lost and Found collection. All she did was sit and knit.? However, things quickly take a turn when Clara presents Lester with a sweater she knitted for him. Not a normal sweater. A misshapen, yellow with purple pom-poms sweater. A perfectly dreadful sweater! Lester is mortified to be seen in it. Luckily, it is destroyed in a mysterious accident later that day. But then Clara surprises him with another sweater, equally ghastly. When it, too, meets an unfortunate end, Clara knits another one, and then another to replace that one after its tragic demise. Is there nothing Lester can do to stop Cousin Clara's never-ending supply of hideous sweaters?

Author and illustrator K. G. Campbell's unconventional picture book tale is brought to hilarious life by his drawings of uncommonly ugly sweaters. With its offbeat humor and terrific use of language, it would make a superb choice for a lively read-aloud. Though the fastidious Lester with his exceedingly good manners is a bit unusual, the dilemma he faces is a fairly common one, and this book could launch a classroom discussion about young children's own experiences with receiving unwanted gifts, and the trade-offs that are made within families between honesty and kindness. It would make an inventive resource for a lesson on hobbies or crafts, or for children's own craft projects as well.

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the Picture Book Illustration category by the Golden Kite. It was recognised by the Bluebonnet Award. It also was recognised in the New Illustrator category by the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award. The EJK Award is given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. An Honor Books category was added in 2012. A distinguished selection committee of early childhood education specialists, librarians, illustrators and experts in childrens literature reviews the entries, seeking books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. The EJK Award was co-presented by the New York Public Library from 1986 to 2011. Since 2012, the de Grummond Childrens Literature Collection has co-presented the award at the Childrens Book Festival, held in April at the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg. To be eligible, writers and illustrators must have had no more than three books previously published.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2014 by Kids Can Press .

Kate DiCamillo is the author of many beloved books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, which received a Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and the bestselling Mercy Watson series. Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis, USA. K. G. Campbell is the author-illustrator of Lester's Dreadful Sweaters. He grew up in Scotland and now lives in California.