A New Coat For Anna

Title: A New Coat for Anna

Author: Harriet Ziefert

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: It was winter, and Anna needed a new coat because hers wasn’t warm anymore and it was too small. Her mother told her that when the war was over, they would be able to buy her new things…but that never happened. The war ended but the stores remained empty. There were no coats, hardly any food and no money. Anna’s mother said that she still had Grandfather’s gold watch and other things, so she would try to sell it for wool by a farmer to make a coat for Anna. They went to a farm the next day, but the farmer said they would need to wait until next spring when he had winter wool. Anna waited, and when the time came, the farmer sheared the sheep’s wool. He gave Anna’s mother a big bag in return for the gold watch. Next, Anna’s mother took the bag of wool to an old woman who had a spinning wheel, and told her that Anna needed a new coat. The lady told them to come back when the cherries are ripe because her fingers were too slow because she was old. They returned when summer came and Anna’s mother gave her a lamp in return. Anna and her mother picked berries to make the coat red, just like Anna wanted it to be. They boiled water and put the berries in there to turn it a deep red. Then, they hung the yarn to dry. Anna and her mother then took the yarn to the weaver and offered a garnet necklace to the weaver if she could weave the yarn into cloth. The weaver told them to come back in two weeks. They did, and they got the red cloth. Then, they went to the tailor. Anna’s mother said she didn’t have money but she would give him a porcelain teapot if he could make a coat for Anna. He took Anna’s measurements and told them to come back in a week and the coat would be ready. When the tailor was done, he hung the coat in the window for everyone to see with a sign in front of it saying “this coat is for Anna.” The next week, Anna and her mother went back and the coat fit her perfectly. That year for Christmas, Anna wanted to invite everyone who helped her make her coat. On Christmas Eve, the farmer, the spinner, the weaver and the tailor came to Anna’s house. Her mother baked a cake! On Christmas Day, Anna visited the sheep and thanked them for the wool.

Characters: Anna, Anna’s mother, the farmer, the spinner, the weaver, the tailor

Plot: Anna needed a new coat for the winter but her family didn’t have money to buy one because of the way

Theme: war, poverty

Setting: places with supplies for Anna’s new coat, Anna’s house

Opinion: I thought this book was okay. I didn’t like it but I didn’t dislike it. It wouldn’t really be helpful for history, because all it really talked about was Anna’s family not having money during the war, but it showed how, in reutnr for something, people were willing to help her.