The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood

 Shirley J.         Juvenile Non-Fiction              The story of a young Sioux girl wishing for a warm coat

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve   32 pages

Virginia, her brother and the other Sioux children have to walk through unbearably cold conditions to get to the school on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.  The clothing, coats, shoes and boots the kids wear are received in donations from the church.  Since Virginia's father is the pastor, their family always has to go last when the donations come in.  Her mother tells her other people need it more than we do.  I disagree with that.  Give over your turn if that is your choice but don't force the kids to wait.  Geez, wear ashcloth but let the kids get warm clothes!  Its SOUTH DAKOTA!   But that is the life Virginia and her brother came up in, always getting the last, the leavings.  The other kids usually found something that fit.  Virginia's clothes were always too short and too tight.  She had to try to hold the coat she got together as much as possible because it wouldn't button.   The next time donations came in she saw a lovely shiny grey coat with silver fur.  It was long and had a hood and she knew it would be so warm and it looked big enough to fit her but as always her mother made her wait until everyone else had picked.  She was so excited it was still there until a girl who always treated Virginia and her brother mean came over picked it up, put it on and danced around.  Virginia was heartbroken.  The girl flaunted the coat until one of the boys started teasing her about the smell coming off the coat.  Turns out the smell was really bad and the girl had to get another coat.  Turns out the only other coat was a brown one that Virginia had gotten.  Her mother made her give it to the girl.   I think the mother should have given her own coat to the girl but I wasn't there to protest.   The good news is, the church asked the pastor and his wife if there was anything they and their family would like for Christmas and the mom told them her daughter would love a warm red coat with a hood and the church sent it, along the presents requested by the mother for her son, her husband and herself.   That Christmas was a wonderful memory for Virginia.  I recommend this book to listeners up to 3rd grade.