Sophia helps her neighbor Mrs. Goldman by making pom-poms for the hats the older woman knits for their friends and neighbors. Making pom-poms is what Sophia is good at. Knitting is too hard for her. When Mrs. Goldman gives away her own hat to someone who needs it, Sophia worries about how cold she must be when they are out together. She decides to take matters into her own hands by knitting a new hat for Mrs. Goldman. The result, not surprisingly, is a hat that’s lumpy and full of holes. How can Sophia give such an awful looking hat to someone who knits such beautiful ones? The answer lies in Sophia’s special skill—20 pom-poms to cover all the holes. Mrs. Goldman loves her unique hat—a “mitzvah” she calls it. G. Brian Karas’s cozy mixed-media illustrations are perfect for this warm story about a friendship between an elderly Jewish woman and her young Latina neighbor. (Ages 4–7)