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The Unforgotten Coat

by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Carl Hunter, Clare Heney

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 498 ratings · 168 reviews

From the best-selling author of Cosmic and Millions comes an evocative immigration tale about two brothers trying to survive- a daring story that miraculously defies belief.

When two Mongolian brothers inexplicably appear one morning in Julie's sixth grade class, no one, least of all Julie, knows what to do with them. But when Chingis, the older of the two brothers, procla...more

Hardcover, 112 pages

Published September 13th 2011 by Candlewick

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Apr 01, 2013 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked the format of this book: how it was printed on "notebook paper" and included the different Polaroid pictures that Chingis took in his many different journeys. It had a nice sense of mysteriousness about it as the author fumbles her way through learning about Chingis and Yergui and tries to be a "Good Guide" for them as they try to get adjusted to school life after coming from Mongolia. Her assumptions about them--that their big fur coats are Mongolian, that they know a lot about h...more I really liked the format of this book: how it was printed on "notebook paper" and included the different Polaroid pictures that Chingis took in his many different journeys. It had a nice sense of mysteriousness about it as the author fumbles her way through learning about Chingis and Yergui and tries to be a "Good Guide" for them as they try to get adjusted to school life after coming from Mongolia. 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. Discovering that the demon after Yergui is actually the British immigration system, and learning that they suddenly get deported back to where their lives are in danger, was also a sudden and somewhat shocking turn of events. Boyce does a really admirable job of painting their situation through Julie's eyes to make the book have a childish, naive air of excitement, imagination, and misunderstanding, and feel as unexpected as it did. 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.

I like how this book assumes that much of what Chingis and Yergui do is tradition (especially Julie's obsession with getting invited into what she assumes with be their plush and lavish house with samovars), but shows that they are really in a state of flux: learning English and gaining Liverpool accents, using the Polaroid camera, learning football, and trying to learn how to fit in and be like the other boys. 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. (less)

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Jan 31, 2013 Noah Lastner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frank has very well written a mysterious tale about to Mongolian boys being chased by a demon. This story has you wanting to read more. Threw the whole entire book you wanted to know are they going to be caught in the next chapter.

I would say this is a good book for 3rd graders to adults. People may think this book is short but it is very descriptive and doesn't leave a detail out. I enjoyed every moment of the book from them running away to when they're just playing at a play ground.

The book...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Saffron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-books

I very much enjoyed this book and think it would be a good choice for guided reading for Year 4-6. It’s a story about two Mongolian brothers told through the eyes of their friend, Julie. When Chingis and his little brother Nergui arrive at Julie’s school they arouse a lot of interest with their exotic-looking afghan coats, tales of eagle-training and horses out on the vast Mongolian steppe. With the help of Julie, their ‘good guide’, the brothers soon fit in to school life and the three become g...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Laura Voyatzis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cotrell has written a very mysterious and well written tale of two children from Mongolia. The boys; Chingis and Nergui, join the school in the last term and manage to grab the attention of Julie who becomes their ‘good guide’. The reader is first introduced to the two boys when they enter the classroom and one of them defiantly refuses to leave and go to his own class. This is intriguing because, it is very unheard of for a pupil to defy a teacher bold as brass and somehow manage to get away wi...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Steph rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was given 'The Unforgotten Coat' by a lecturer at my University to read as part of my Teacher training degree.

My first impression was that I liked how the cover is set out, feeling slightly 3D in places. The design itself doesn't give much away, simply showing a young boy's head inside a coat.

Upon opening the book I loved how the pages are designed to look like a note book. This was something I had never seen before and felt it made the book interesting.

The story is about Julie who finds her...more I was given 'The Unforgotten Coat' by a lecturer at my University to read as part of my Teacher training degree.

My first impression was that I liked how the cover is set out, feeling slightly 3D in places. The design itself doesn't give much away, simply showing a young boy's head inside a coat.

Upon opening the book I loved how the pages are designed to look like a note book. This was something I had never seen before and felt it made the book interesting.

The story is about Julie who finds herself back at her old school looking in the lost property box and finding an old coat that transported her back to Year 6. It was during this last year at Primary school in Liverpool that two boys from Mongolia joined her class. They take a liking to Julie and call her their 'Good Guide' and use her to help them settle in.

Julie is determined to discover all she can about the boys, and be invited into their home. She embarks on a mission to learn all she can about Mongolia and takes her role as their 'Good Guide' very seriously. Chingis, the oldest of the two brothers, loves to take photographs and often shows polaroids of his homeland, while his younger brother Nergui is afraid of the 'demons' that are looking for them.

As the story develops Julie discovers the polaroids have a deeper meaning and are not from their homeland at all. By the end of the book she discovers who the 'demons' were that have left Chingis and Nergui scared and terrified.

I believe this book would be suitable for a Year 6 class and it has given me some ideas of how I could use it in a classroom setting.

After each chapter it left wit unanswered questions and kept me guessing what might happen next. By the end of the book most of my questions had been answered, but it does leave room for children to discuss, or write, about what they think happened to Chingis and Nergui and to continue the book from their point of view.

This book has a mixture of laughter, comedy and heartbreak all rolled into one. To learn from the author's Afterword that this was based on a real event seemed to be what kept this book in my memory, and certainly what made me write this review.

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Oct 12, 2012 Ernie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Boyce, the writer of Millions has done it again with this gem of a book that shines with the warmth of his humour and indomitable human spirit. Julie, the narrator tells this story of the Mongolian coat still in the school lost property many years later. In the coat pockets there are Polaroid photos that take the adult Julie back to that last summer in year six when Chingis and his inseparable little brother Nergui join her class in the Liverpool area of northern England. Two kids with “mad coat...more Boyce, the writer of Millions has done it again with this gem of a book that shines with the warmth of his humour and indomitable human spirit. Julie, the narrator tells this story of the Mongolian coat still in the school lost property many years later. In the coat pockets there are Polaroid photos that take the adult Julie back to that last summer in year six when Chingis and his inseparable little brother Nergui join her class in the Liverpool area of northern England. Two kids with “mad coats and hats” in the heat of summer.
Chingis takes over, appoints Julie as the “Good Guide” that all nomads need as Boyce entertains me with his humorous account of the power struggle inevitably won by Chingis, bearing the name of the great Khan as all Mongol males do. His favoured response is, “No, we are nomads.” If you’ve ever taught newly arrived ESL students, you’ll smile at the bossy sound of his language. Chingis is a totally enchanting character, protecting his little brother from the demon that makes people vanish and inducting him into the mysteries of Liverpool football as the boys are ‘learning themselves ordinary’.
Julie and her friends of both sexes enjoy researching Mongolian life led by Chingis who still has the sand from the desert in the pockets of his grandfather’s coat along with the Polaroid photos of his homeland. The tone of the story changes when Chingis swaps his brother’s coat for Julie’s Everton football kit and her mother insists on driving to the menacing tower block flat to return it to his tearful and clearly fearful mother.
When the boys run away, leaving one coat at the school, Julie goes after them (as they expect no less from their “Good Guide”) and discovers the poignant secret of the photos. She brings them back home only to feel that she has betrayed them when they vanish as the “demon” from immigration has them deported. Boyce adds an author’s note explaining the gestation of his fiction and expressing his despair that “a country that authorises its functionaries to snatch children from their beds in the middle of the night can’t really be called civilized.”
The story is much enhanced by the hard covered presentation with pages ruled and margined like a school exercise book, supported with many Polaroid photos.
Recommendation: Use this engaging, easy to read story in any year. Younger students will enjoy the humour and appreciate the contrasting pathos while older students will be intrigued by Boyce’s sophisticated language skills that leaven the humour and nostalgia with the force of fable.
Wide reading links: fables, asylum seekers, the big questions, brothers, friendship, living on the edge, cultural diversity, the migrant experience, stories with Asian characters. Years 5-11.
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Oct 11, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: winter-kid-lit-book-reviews

During the last summer term of elementary school, Julie meets newly immigrated Mongolian brothers Chingis and Nergui Tuul. The boys believe that Nergui is being chased by a demon that will make him vanish, so they enlist Julie as their Good Guide, to keep them safe and help them blend in. As Julie learns more about the steppe of Mongolia and the boys learn more about Bootle, everyone begins to experience both the funny and sad parts of immigrating to a new world.

This relatively short story of a...more

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Sep 20, 2012 LH Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-literature, perfect

Frank Cottrell Boyce writes magic. I am of no doubt that pretty much everything he publishes in the realm of children's literature will be thought of as utter classics in the years to come. And, to be frank, they should be sung and danced about now for his books are magical classics already.

I love Millions. Millions is my desert island book of choice.

But I think The Unforgotten Coat might come very close to usurping it.

The Unforgotten Coat of the title belongs to Chingis, one of two Mongolian b...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Terrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-realistic-fiction

The most irritating thing about this book is its size and shape. As a librarian, I can tell this book will stick out like a sore thumb on my fiction shelf. Although on browsing it appears to be ok for the early chapter readers, the content is more appropriate for 4th grade and up.

The second irritating thing about this book is the cover. I don't like it. It has a cloth texture feel with a pictue that will not appeal to young readers, and will be difficult to keep clean. The pages inside the book...more

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May 10, 2012 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Two boys, brothers from Mongolia, seem to appear out of nowhere in Julie's 6th grade class. It doesn't matter that one of them is much younger. It doesn't matter that the teacher wants the younger boy to go to his own classroom. The boys are convinced that demons are after them and they pick Julie, our narrator, as their "Good Guide". As the days pass, Julie tries her best to discover where the boys live and to be invited inside. Trying to understand the boys, Julie learns all she can about Mong...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Brandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: new-favorites

I am not sure that I would have picked up this book on my own, but Peggy Sharp at a recent BER seminar made it sound very good (and she was right!). There are so many unique characteristics of this novel, that I am not entirely sure where to begin. The story is a non-typical look at an immigrant experience. Polaroid pictures illustrate and interrupt the short chapters. Printed in color and made to look like notebook pages, this title has a memoir/journal feel. The shape is unique, very similar...more I am not sure that I would have picked up this book on my own, but Peggy Sharp at a recent BER seminar made it sound very good (and she was right!). There are so many unique characteristics of this novel, that I am not entirely sure where to begin. The story is a non-typical look at an immigrant experience. Polaroid pictures illustrate and interrupt the short chapters. Printed in color and made to look like notebook pages, this title has a memoir/journal feel. The shape is unique, very similar to the square-ish dimensions of a Polariod. A child on the cover wears the white silhouette of what is probably a heavy winter coat is visually striking.
The story starts out with some kids on a playground. The town is Bootle, which is just outside of Liverpool, England, but this story could easily take place in any small suburb worldwide. Julie is our narrator and her main concerns at the beginning of 6th grade mainly revolve around a cute guy in class and trying to get invited back to a friend’s house that has makeup. While on the playground, they notice these two unfamiliar boys staring at them.
Once back in the classroom, Julie sees her seat has been taken by the smaller of the two boys. The teacher introduces the older boy as Chingis, a newly immigrated student from Mongolia. The other boy is Nergui, Chingis’ little brother. He isn’t supposed to be in that class, but is frightened because he believes he is being chased by a demon. Chingis explains, “It’s a demon that makes things vanish.” The teacher allows Nergui to stay with Chingis, but only for that day. After school Chingis approaches Julie, asking her to be their “Good Guide.”
The boys explain to her that they come from a nomadic culture and need a new guide when in a strange land. Julie takes being a Good Guide seriously. She researches everything she can find about Mongolia and takes great care helping them fit in. She explains everything from the slang used to how to play soccer. When Chingis talks of things back in Mongolia the tales sound a little tall, but he always has a Polariod to prove his story is real. Julie now has a new goal that usurps makeup and cute boys—she wants desperately to be invited back to Chingis and Nergui’s house so she can see all the fine Mongolian treasures they must have brought with them.
Julie begins to suspect the brothers are not as knowledgeable and worldly as they claim. One day when Chingis lets Julie wear his coat which kept him warm on the Mongolian Steppe, she discovers dollhouse furniture that looks very familiar. She recognizes it as the table and chair set in Chingis’s photo of Mongolian desert oasis. When she takes his coat back to his apartment his mom answers the door. Instead of a happy family surrounded by riches, Julie discovers people living in fear with packed bags.
One day Chingis leaves his coat at school and never returns. Their teacher explains that they were in the country illegally and the whole family had been sent back to Mongolia by the government. It seems that the demon who made things disappear did indeed catch up with the family. Years later, Julie as an adult returns to her old elementary school and finds Chingis’s coat still there in the lost and found box. Inside she finds a tag from a local department store. The coat had probably been bought at a thrift store after the family immigrated. The pocket if filled with the Polariods that now decorate the pages of this novel.

I had several ideas of how this book can be used in a classroom:
• Fans of The Hundred Dresses will definitely enjoy this novel. The two titles also make a natural pairing to read in the classroom.
• It can be used to start a class discussion about immigration; the family had been trying to get the proper paperwork to become citizens but had been denied. Students could be asked to discuss if it was right of the government to deport them.
• This story takes place in England. Students can research how different countries handle the issue of immigration, legal and illegal, and compare what they find to the United States’ policies.
• The brothers make up a reality back in Mongolia that doesn’t seem to be entirely true. Students can discuss why they did this and debate if it was okay for them to lie in this situation.
• The layout of the book is very unique, but easily reproducible by students. With a composition notebook and a Polariod (or even digital) camera students could write and illustrate their own memoir, or fictional memoir in this case.

The book is a fairly short read, only 93 pages long, with several photographs taking up entire pages, so it could easily fit into the curriculum if only a short amount of time is still available. The short length and illustrated nature of this title may encourage students reluctant to pick up a traditional novel to try this one. The occasional difference in British slang may be a bit challenging for some readers, but the context of the vocabulary should clarify the meanings. This title can definitely benefit students by being included in the curriculum. If that isn’t possible, it should definitely be on the shelf for students to pick up on their own.
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Feb 26, 2012 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is an odd little tale about the impact of two Mongolian refugee brothers on a school class in Liverpool. It's told from the point of view of Julie, a sixth-year student who is appointed the brothers' Good Guide. The brothers are trying to outrun a demon. It's magical and sweet and weird all at once, and it tells the story with text and lots of Polaroid photos. It's a very quick read, meant for 8 to 12-year-olds.

My favorite part is at the very end. Julie is now an adult, a mother already, an...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Teara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I heard Frank Cottrell Boyce speak at a conference in Winchester. He is a remarkable speaker and person.
I was very touched by the true story that Frank Cottrell Boyce told us in that auditorium that this book is based upon. It was obvious to all of us sitting there that this story had also touched Frank in a special way. During the break I stepped out and bought this book. I took it back home that night and read it in one sitting.

Having heard some information about the true story, I was able to...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: friendship, loss, multicultural, realistic-fiction, favorites

Frank Cottrell Boyce is starting to remind me of Avi – his books are so diverse, yet all wonderful in their own way. I absolutely adored Cosmic, and this quick read about two young Mongolian refugees who arrive in a small British town near Liverpool did not disappoint. It’s told as a flashback from the point of view of Julie, a Year 6 student who takes the boys under her wing and becomes their “good guide.” Julie becomes fond of and intrigued by the two boys, but doesn’t fully understand their f...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Danica Midlil rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chapter-books-intermediate-grades, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 20, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: immigration, ncbla

One of the things I especially like about this book is how it includes several photographs which the author proceeds to wrap his story around. The photographs are interesting by themselves, but the way in which they support the story is pretty interesting. From the perspective of an adult, Julie recalls her sixth grade year when she was appointed to be a "good guide" for two brothers from Mongolia. Chingis and Nergui are a mystery to Julie and her classmates who are intrigued by the tales Chingi...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, multicultural-titles

Frank Cottrell Boyce adds his traditional twist of mystery to this story of immigrant brothers from Mongolia, leaving the reader wondering what really happened. Unfortunately, I don't think the Mongolian aspect of this book was terribly well done in the sense that it is a bit misleading. I have known people from Mongolia, and I don't think their culture is sensitively portrayed in this story, particularly the bit about the demon, and I worry that children who read this book will form strange imp...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Elisha Condie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

Frank Cottrell Boyce's books are so sweet that I'm pretty sure they kill people. And I meant that in the nicest way. Every book I've read of his has been very good. Boyce writes with a perfect voice for his young narrators - I kind of forget it's a grown man with 7 kids who is really writing it.

This book is about two Mongolian brothers who come to a small British town and choose a girl from their class to be their Good Guide (to show them around, show them the ropes, etc). The class is mesmer...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Minli rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade, yay-diversity, made-me-cry, adorable

I will never be able to not give 5 stars to a great immigrant story. Period. That's my disclaimer.

Julie is your average insightful Year Six gal in Bootle, UK. She has the typical concerns you would expect from an average insightful Year Six gal--being invited over to Mimi's house after school, and getting Socky to notice her. But that all changes when two Mongolian immigrants, Chingis and 'Negrui', join her class.

Frank Cottrell Boyce is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. His previous b...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Mary marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: crone-6th-realistic

Booklist (September 1, 2011 (Vol. 108, No. 1))
Grades 3-6. With both humor and sorrow, this chapter book tells a contemporary refugee story in which illegal immigrants help a local kid find a sense of belonging. When Mongolian Chingis and his younger brother, Nergui, turn up in Julie’s sixth-grade class in Bootle, near Liverpool, they ask her to be their guide in “learning themselves ordinary.” They ask about the rules of football and the right buzzwords, and Chingis tells Julie about the exotic...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Katya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, arc-galley, middle-grade, silently-contemplating, warm-cuddlies

Read this book!

That's what I would do if I were an employee in a bookstore and a mother asked me what to get for her tween.

As a karmaic twist, I decided to read this book after the WSJ article maelstorm (you know, where the article started with the story of a mother lamenting the lack of "good" books for her kid), and also at a time where I became aware of the problem of "voice". Rather, if an author is capable of writing believable characters which are not like the author themselves (ex: A whi...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Rob Jinkerson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, children-s-lit

I read this book on a glowing recommendation from one of my uni lecturers who said it was fantastic, that it had everything in it and that she would drop of her classroom lesson plans in order to use this book instead of what she already had planned. Also, it won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2012. I was expecting a lot.

I wasn't really that impressed after reading the book. I mean, its a good book, with a carefully thought out plot line and interesting way of telling the story as well a...more I read this book on a glowing recommendation from one of my uni lecturers who said it was fantastic, that it had everything in it and that she would drop of her classroom lesson plans in order to use this book instead of what she already had planned. Also, it won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2012. I was expecting a lot.

I wasn't really that impressed after reading the book. I mean, its a good book, with a carefully thought out plot line and interesting way of telling the story as well as highlighting a key issue or two, but it didn't wow me. I enjoyed, but I don't feel that I need to rave about it to people.

Basically, two Mongolian boy start at a school in Liverpool and the narrator of the story becomes their 'good guide', showing them round. The story is told retrospectively with the narrator (Julie) looking back at herself when she was at school with the two boys. The younger boy, Nergui, believes he is being chased by a demon and so all they do is try to send the demon off on the wrong track to prevent Nergui from 'vanishing'. At the key point in the story, the two boys and the Julie go off on trail and we discover that thongs aren't as we were first lead to believe and that the demon may not be a demon after all.

One main criticism I have of this book is the use of time. Despite it being told retrospectively, and so we expect the past to feel older, or the future to feel further on from now, everything seems to be written with today in mind. Julie is writing about events that happened when she was in year 6 and we are told that in the 'present' she is a 'grown up' and has a child- so roughly 10 years on? However, the writing style feels as if it is being written by the year 6 Julie with the language used etc. This is fine during the long sections where we are with the 10 year old Julie, but it jars when we cut back to the present and remember that Julie is significantly more mature than we thought a chapter ago.

Overall, an ok book, I was just expecting more.(less)

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Oct 03, 2011 Caren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children

This is an interesting and unusual little book. The author got the idea for his story from a chance encounter while on an author visit to a school at the time of the publication of his first novel, "Millions". During that visit, he met a Mongolian girl, whom he later discovered had been deported back to Mongolia. In this book, the girl becomes two Mongolian brothers. The voice of the book is their "good guide", Julie. The book has the appearance of a notebook in which Julie records her memories...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Deirdre rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-books

This book really is amazing! Imagine: a strange boy comes into a middle school classroom, with his little brother, who refuses to speak and will not take off his large, fuzzy hat, and proceeds rule the roost. Told in a series of flashbacks, centered around beautiful, quasi-poloroid illustrations, this is an absolutely unique collaboration of artist and author, and a great story!

Note: I read a review which said that this was an inaccurate depiction of Mongolian culture. I am sure that it is, but...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Ciaran Mcnamee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. During the final term of primary school, a new boy joins Julie O’Connor’s class. Chengis comes from Mongolia. Chengis’ unusual clothes, exotic background and strange world-view fascinate Julie. She is delighted when Chengis asks her to act as ‘Good Guide’ to teach him and his brother Nergui about life in Bootle.

Julie longs to be a part of Chengis’ world, which she imagines to be extremely exotic. Chengis encourages her to believe this by telling her stories about life in Mongolia and showing her...more During the final term of primary school, a new boy joins Julie O’Connor’s class. Chengis comes from Mongolia. Chengis’ unusual clothes, exotic background and strange world-view fascinate Julie. She is delighted when Chengis asks her to act as ‘Good Guide’ to teach him and his brother Nergui about life in Bootle.

Julie longs to be a part of Chengis’ world, which she imagines to be extremely exotic. Chengis encourages her to believe this by telling her stories about life in Mongolia and showing her Polaroid pictures of his home. However, she discovers that all is not as it seems: Chengis and his family live in a dilapidated housing estate rather than in a miniature Xanadu; the pictures of Mongolia are images of locations around Liverpool; Chengis’ traditional Mongolian coat was made in London; finally Julie learns that Chengis and his family have been deported because they entered the United Kingdom illegally.

Years pass and Julie, now an adult, visits her old school, which is due to be demolished. She discovers Chengis’ old coat with the pictures in it in the lost property. By chance, she is contacted by Chengis though the internet soon after the visit and offers to return the coat.

I loved the presentation of this story: it is set out like a school notebook, complete with margins and Polaroid pictures inserted at various points. It is pithily written and conveys the sense of possibility and excitement that I remember feeling at the start of adolescence very convincingly. Similarly, the reality of Chengis’ situation is dealt with sensitively yet unsentimentally.

The criticism I have of the book is that I found Chengis a terribly annoying character. I have sympathy for his circumstances, but he is presumptuous, manipulative, stubborn and a show-off. I did not find his eccentricities endearing at all. It seemed entirely in keeping with his character that at the end of the book he wanted his ancient coat back.

Despite my issues with one of the central characters, I enjoyed The Unforgotten Coat and would recommend it. It would be an excellent text to use with upper Key Stage 2. The obvious themes around which lessons could be based are immigration, refugees and multiculturalism. The layout of the book could inspire children to work with cameras to create exotic looking locations from the familiar and the account of the science lesson might motivate children to participate in practical science lessons enthusiastically. The Unforgotten Coat is also short enough that it could be used simply as a text to read to a class over the course of a few days.
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Sep 03, 2012 Jillian McGrath rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was about an eleven year old girl named Julie(the narrator)who is just a normal girl in 6th grade who lives in England when a boy from Magnolia comes to her school named Chingis and his brother "Nergui". They wore giant furry coats everyday to school. They asked Julie to be their good guide. She says "yes" and makes them fit in more at the school. She becomes really good friends with them and goes on adventures, some are running away from "the demon" that Chingis and Nergui think are c...more

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May 11, 2012 Miss Pippi the Librarian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, row

Theme: Mongols, England, Refugees, Emigration, Immigration

Characters: Julie the Good Guide, Chingis, Nergui, Shocky, Mimi, Mrs. Spendlove

Chingis and Nergui appear in class. They adopt Julie as their guide to life in Bootle, England. They are hiding and running from a demon. They are afraid to vanish like others and one day, they do. Boyce writes a very real story with photographs interspersed throughout the journal like format. The story begins with an adult Julie reflecting then returning to th...more

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May 09, 2012 Andrewhouston rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Okay, maybe calling this a "classic" as that's what five stars means to Goodreads is a stretch but I really liked this kids book. I happened to be looking for some other books to bring in for the pre-teen kids I work with to look at. The fact that it was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce is what caught my eye. He's a fantastic screen writer known for his collaborations with director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, e.g.). I opened the book up and noticed that it used Polaroid pictures a...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Kristi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting book. I really loved the characters and found myself falling in love with Chingis and Nergui and Julie. I loved that Julie went out of her way to find out more about the boys and Mongolia. The transformation of the boys from nomads to typical British boys- mimicking the accent and love of football was funny to see.

The fact that this book was loosely based on a true event made it very heartwarming. I liked that it was written from Julie's POV, but I do think it could have...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Rachel rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-chapter-book

This was going to be a quick read so that I could squeeze in one more review for the library children's department before the month ended. I chose Boyce's new book despite its awkward title because I was rather taken with the only other book of his I'd read, Millions. Then I wasn't even able to review it for the library because the reviews are supposed to be recommendations, which means I must find the book to have earned at least three stars.

Unlike Millions, this book seems like it was hastily...more

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About Frank Cottrell Boyce

Frank Cottrell Boyce is a British screenwriter, novelist and occasional actor.

In addition to original scripts, Cottrell Boyce has also adapted novels for the screen and written children's fiction, winning the 2004 Carnegie Medal for his debut, Millions, based on his own screenplay for the film of the same name.
His novel Framed was shortlisted for the Whitbread Book of the Year as well as the Carne...more

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time

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“And in that moment, I felt my own ignorance spread suddenly out behind me like a pair of wings, and every single thing I didn’t know was a feather on those wings. I could feel them tugging at the air, restless to be airborne.” — 1 person liked it

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