The Unforgotten Coat: 1

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Now an attractive hardback, The Unforgotten Coat is his briefest and most melancholy children's book to date. Access our 2023 lists of recommended K-12 global children’s and YA literature, organized by grade level bands and themes with text complexity information and plot summaries for each book.

Julie is much more interested with learning about and presenting their culture to the class than Chingis and Yergui are, perhaps because of their immigration situation, or perhaps because they want to become more acculturated. It's especially interesting that the idea for the book was based on a real Mongolian girl in Britain who won the hearts of her class and then was suddenly deported with her family.It’s evocative to me as an adult some 25 odd years since I experienced that term, so I can only imagine how relative it must feel to a child currently living that.

Her assumptions about them--that their big fur coats are Mongolian, that they know a lot about how to survive in the wild--are ones that I as a reader willingly went along with, and so it was really intriguing in the end when so many of those are undone, and Chingis' exotic Polaroids are revealed to be simply pictures of the local landscape through his own unique perspective that "Mongolianizes" them. Also, the magic of technology, which, if you do not cry after turning the last page, you're just weird. It’s a great one to use as a common thread for first term High School students (or to use for a book club) as there is so much to talk about. In this world of expanding opportunity it felt natural enough that he, first in his family to make it to university, should go from his Catholic grammar school to read English at Keble College, Oxford.In fact some ideas in the book resemble a photography lesson plan that I have been trying to develop for some time and so I would like to use this book to develop it more. So pleased that I finally got round to read this unique book - prompted by the enthusiasm of a Y9 boy who said it was great. Despite my issues with one of the central characters, I enjoyed The Unforgotten Coat and would recommend it. We encourage thoughtful dialogue around international literature so that children can reflect on their own cultural experience and connect to the experience of others across the globe. Highly recommended for any kid wanting to read “a short book” as well as those looking for something a little sophisticated for the 9-12 age set.