The Coat

by Julie Hunt, Ron Brooks (Illustrator)

Overview

A bold and original picture book that will lift you off your feet and whirl you away

The Coat stands in a paddock at the end of a row of strawberries. It is buttoned up tight and stuffed full of straw and it is angry. "What a waste of me!" it yells. Then along comes a man. "I could do with a coat like that," the man says. Together, swooping and swinging, they travel to the Cafe Delitzia, where the man finds he has magical talents courtesy of the coat, and together they give the performance of a lifetime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781741146059
Publisher:	Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited
Publication date:	05/01/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Julie Hunt is the author of the Little Else series, which includes Trick Rider, and Precious Little. Ron Brooks is a picture book artist with a career spanning more than 35 years. His memoir is Drawn from the Heart and his illustrated books include the Henry books by Margaret Perversi, Motor Bill and the Lovely Caroline by Jenny Wagner, and Honey and Bear by Ursula Dubosarsky. Wild and Brooks previously collaborated on Fox and Old Pig.

Editorial Reviews

"A slightly magical, wholly satisfying fable, visually rich and verbally open-ended."  —Kirkus

"This vigorous yet dreamlike Australian picture-book collaboration between Julie Hunt and illustrator Ron Brooks suggests the beauty, and urgency, of pursuing a vigorous and zestful life."  —Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

A slightly magical, wholly satisfying fable, visually rich and verbally open-ended, originally published in Australia. A coat, stuffed with straw and inhabited by the small creatures of the field, inveighs against its useless fate as a scarecrow. But a man comes along, a disappointed man. He sees the coat and figures it has a lot of wear yet in it, so he shakes out the straw and the mice and puts it on, though it is far too large. The coat speaks to him and carries itself and the man to the Cafe Delitzia. There, he is welcomed, fed and asked to perform, although he thinks he cannot. But the coat knows, and it plays the accordion with such expertise that the crowd is enchanted. At the end of the night, the coat fits him perfectly, and off the man and the coat go. Brooks' fine illustrations fit the pattern of the words perfectly. The images in the field start in dull sepia tones, and the coat actually looks pretty bedraggled, but by the time the man reaches the Cafe Delitzia, it begins to glow; as it plays and he sings, the pictures become more colorful. The typeface emulates handwritten script, complementing the illustrations' line but occasionally becoming hard to read. Meditative, musical, magical, mysterious. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews