Tuesday 13 June 2017

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce


The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce tells the story of two young boy refugees. The story is narrated by Julie, now a grown-up with a child of her own. She recalls her final term in primary school when two young nomads who had arrived from the borders of Outer Mongolia and joined her class. Her memories are prompted by a series of Polaroid photographs that one of the boys had taken when Julie became their 'Good Guide'. This funny, original and moving tale takes its inspiration from a true story of a Mongolian child refugee in Bootle, who was eventually returned to her home country after a midnight raid by the immigration authorities. As you read the story, you can't help be touched and moved by the plight of the boys  and the Afterword of the book just adds to that.

We learn about and get to know Chingis and Nergui through Julie's eyes. At first Julie is curious about these new additions to her class and goes out of her way to find out as much as she can about their home country and its traditions. Children reading the story could, like Julie, carry out their own research. The story is set in real locations in the UK (Bootle and Formby) and as such, it lends itself to looking at contrasting locations for geography.

There is one particular incident in the story which is a major turning point for Julie. It's the first time she visits the temporary home of Chingis and Nergui. She is hoping to be invited in but instead is surprised by the reaction of her two new friends and their mother. Her sense of surprise is soon taken over by shock and confusion. She suddenly realises they are afraid but what of she does not know.

The photographs in the book have been taken by professional photograghers: Carl Hunter and Clare Heney. Each of the photographs show a scene that on first inspection appears to be one thing but on closer inspection turns out to be something different: illusions. They demonstrate that often we see what we expect to see rather than what is really there. For Chingis and Nergui they are images that remind them of home, maybe a way of feeling that Bootle is not so different from Mongolia. Pupils could try, as part of an art project, to create their own photographs that suggest other landscapes from familiar surroundings in the same way.

The story speaks about friendship, nostalgia and the enrichment of lives by other lives. It explores in a sensitive and non-preachy way the deeply divisive issue of imigration.

It was the winner of the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

Candlewick Press have produced a useful discussion guide which includes pre-reading activities, discussion questions and post-reading activities.


Publisher:Walker Books
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: 978-1406341541

AR Book Level: 4.4
Lexile Level: 710L




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