Lauren A. MillsCritiques

Mills presents a different sort of princess. One worth considering.

This turn-of-the-century Appalachian tale of prejudice, friendship, coal mines, and community is timeless. The numerous folk songs are documented in the author’s note. A novel based on Mills’s picture book The Rag Coat (1991).

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This is a classic story of a fairy that was born in the flower. This is a good story just to have adventure. She goes through a lot of trials.

The Rag Coat is a good story about a girl that takes old rags from people around the town and turns them into a beautiful coat to keep her warm.The towns people at first make fun of her, but when they realize what she has done they are so thankful. This book is a good representation of being thankful for what you have and to see the beauty in everything.

This book is all about setting your own path and not letting others set it for you. Several different species of animals wanted to marry Thumbelina, however she did not want to marry any of them. At one point in the story she felt trapped and like she would never be happy. One day, when she was suppose to marry a mole, she decided that she wanted to have her own happiness. She goat a ride on bird and found a young man that she wanted to be with, and they lived happily ever after.

Minna is a young Appalachian girl that wants nothing more than to go to school but she doesn't have a coat. Her father recently died and her mother can't afford to buy her one. A group of mothers come together to make her one using pieces of left over fabric. She is thrilled but once she wears it to school the other kids make fun of her for wearing a coat of rags.

With paintings that capture all the beauty of Appalachia in authentic detail, this tender story about a resourceful mountain girl's special coat will touch readers with its affirming message of love and friendship.
https://www.amazon.com/Rag-Coat-Lauren-Mills/dp/0316574074/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&am...

The Rag Coat is a good introduction to Appalachian culture as it touches on all the highlights of the historical struggles that area has faced, poverty, mining, mountains, religion, etc. It is also a good story for talking about the negative impacts of mining, family deaths, poverty restricting school, not having winter clothes, compensating for lack of materials, friends, school, You could also touch on pride, frugality, and generosity. Students could relate to the stories in the rags that made up the coat, or research mining and living conditions.

A beautifully told folktale, graceful language that retains the magic of a traditional tale but is updated for clarity of concepts and themes. Pretty pictures that are reminiscent of those by [a:Michael Hague|13290|Michael Hague|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1309848027p2/13290.jpg]. My only complaint is that the illustrations were 'soft,' so it was difficult to appreciate the detail in them.

I do warn you that it is a longer tale - not a good fit for most preschoolers. But for older children it's marvelous. This is a book you might want to own if you have daughters, especially if they're so into the whole pink & princessy perspective and you want them to grow up more resourceful & strong.

I think any version of Tatterhood that you can find would probably be good for daughters, actually.
ETA - I checked the version at gutenberg.org and it's ok, but I do prefer this adaptation, even disregarding the pretty pictures.

3.5 stars. This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

First, let me just say that I debated about putting that teaser at the top of the page. The story isn't plotted out at all the way it suggests, and it isn't actually until the end of the book that Minna actually takes her patchwork coat to school.

Marketing quibbles aside, though, let's talk story. I thought this was a really cool one, because it took something I knew very little about (life in the Appalachians), and turned it into a fascinating background for the story. Minna's Patchwork Coat is full of poignant messages about family, friendship, and racism, and all the way those three subjects can be woven together. A boy, Lester, who's part African America, part white, and part Native American is despised by everyone but the Native American grandmother he lives with - until he and Minna become friends. His grandmother, Aunt Nora, is so smart and so good at healing and yet is left so entirely out of the community because of the color of her skin. And Minna, of course, is just as cut out of the community, but for a different reason: she's so poor she can't afford a coat.

This is a really good example of how middle grade novels can still dig into deep topics and come up with some serious themes, without ever straying onto edgy territory. Minna's Patchwork Coat is a wonderful book for kids of any age, full of no more violence than the (unseen) death of Minna's convalescent father. It is somehow a gentle book, even as it depicts grief and racism and bullying and everything else Minna struggles with throughout the book - gentle, because it's honest without ever once beginning to relish its harsher themes. It comes across as a very honest book, portraying the true emotions and experiences of a little girl growing up in the Appalachians - one whose father dies, whose best friend is shunned by the rest of her society, and whose family is so poor she literally can't go to school because she doesn't have a warm coat for walking to school in the winter.

I think kids will appreciate the straight-forward depiction of Minna's reality, while still being enchanted by the stories behind the patchwork coat. I know I certainly would have loved Minna's Patchwork Coat at a younger age, because I would enjoy the mix of historical fiction (I always loved books that made me feel smart by teaching me something) and optimism. For at its core, despite the hard themes that run through it, Minna's Patchwork Coat is a story about an extremely optimistic girl who learns some sad truths but still does her part to draw her community together through the patchwork coat made from their most beloved memories.

Do I recommend it? Yes. I'm not going to say I think everyone should run out and buy it this instant, but I do think it's a good book. It's worth a read it it's handy, and it's definitely worth looking into if you know a kid who's into historical fiction.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from KidLitCon.

Minna is a child of poverty. Living in Appalachia, when her father dies as a result of working in the mines, life is even more difficult. Minna longs to attend school, but does not have a winter coat to protect her from the cold.

When her mother's friends from a quilting society, gather their unused scraps of material, a beautiful coat of many colors is sewn for Minna.

Happy to attend school, Minna discovers that her rag coat is an object for bullying. Trying to fit in, Minna turns the table and points to specific blocks of material which were sewn from her classmates objects.

This lovely illustrated book deals with difficult subjects of death, poverty and bullying.

The Rag Coat is a longer picture book that is easy to read. It handles tough topics such as family deaths. bullying, and apologizing. The main character shows that not everything is what it seems. The other students make fun of her coat, but apologize for their wrong doings when they find out how much meaning it has.

A story about a young girl growing up in Appalachia, this is a very touching book. Minna wants to go to school, but she has to stay home to help her widowed Mama take care of her siblings and do chores around the house. Her father had always promised Minna that she would have a beautiful coat to wear to school, and with him gone now it is up to her to make one. I would recommend this book to students in 2nd- 4th grade.

This is about a young girl who needs a new winter coat so she can go to school, but her family cant afford one. Her father dies and her mom has to work as a knitter. Her knitter community decides that they will all combine their old rags to make a coat for this girl. The kids at school make fun of her, but when she points out that the coat is made from their old favorite rags they become interested and apologize. This teaches students to be kind and understanding. I would recommend this for second or third graders.

iconic and zany images, great illustrations, simple but copious text, good lessons about different cultures(species)

Personally, I didn't really like this book at all. It is a Norwegian folktale, and to be honest, I didn't really get it as I was reading it. At the end it made sense, but I did not enjoy the story. I feel as if it was a very long read and so far from the fairytales Americans are familiar with that a student might not be invested in it!

This traditional fairytale was a very cute, imaginative story about finding your own happiness. The descriptions were creative and thorough. I could see a little girl sleeping in a walnut shell with a rose petal for a blanket without the illustrations. One aspect I found lacking was the use of dialogue. The main character hardly spoke while the other characters in the story did most of the conversing. The author does tell what Thumbelina was thinking. I also thought the story had very old ideals, like being told who to marry. The characters in the story treated Thumbelina as an object and they all wanted to marry her at first sight. Thumbelina also was not independent and relied on everyone else to help her. This is unrealistic by today’s standards and is not a good message for young girls. Overall, I thought the story was cute but had no valuable lesson besides finding happiness.

This is a sweet story with charming pictures! I wish I had the patience and skill for quilt making, and I love storytelling, so this story was a hit with me. I also liked that Minna, at the end of the book, gains the courage to return to school after being hurt by the bullies. Sweet.

The daughter of an Appalachian coal miner, Minna had always wanted to go to school, but with her family too poor to afford a coat - they attended church wrapped up in burlap feed sacks and a quilt - and her mother needing her help at home, it seemed like that was a dream which could never come true. When her father can no longer work, because of "miner's cough," and eventually dies, the family is worse off than ever. But then one day, the women in her mother's quilting circle learn the reason that Minna does not attend school, and propose a solution: the creation of a most unusual coat, made with all their old scraps of material. Delighted, at first, with this "rag coat," Minna is subsequently dismayed at the ridicule from her classmates. Can she show them that her coat has significance, not just for her, but for all of them as well...?

Having greatly enjoyed Lauren Mills' Tatterhood and the Hobgoblins in the past, as well as the illustrations she did for Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, I suspected I would enjoy this Appalachian tale as well, and I was not disappointed. Although the resolution of The Rag Coat might feel a little too easy, with all Minna's classmates realizing how wrong they were to tease her, I found the story very realistic in other respects, particularly as it concerns the father's illness and death. I was moved by Mills' tale, and think that children who have known what it is to do without, or to lose a parent, will find it a comforting reassurance that things will get better. The artwork, done in watercolor, is simply lovely, with a beautiful but muted palette, and an overall sensibility that felt very in keeping with the story! All in all, a delightful picture-book, one I would recommend to fans of this author/artist, to readers who appreciate tales set in Appalachia, and to children who have experienced want and loss.

Thumbelina, illustrated by Lauren Mills.

Influenced by folktales such as Tom Thumb, as well as the fantasies of Jonathan Swift and E.T.A. Hoffman, Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina ("Tommelise" in the original Danish) follows the adventures of its diminutive heroine, from her birth in a tulip-like flower, through her almost-marriage to a string of unsuitable "suitors," to her eventual meeting with the perfect mate. An adventure-story with great appeal for readers who like tales of "little people," it has been retold many times.

This edition, adapted and illustrated by Lauren Mills - whose gorgeous artwork can also be seen in the Norwegian folktale, Tatterhood and the Hobgoblins, and Jane Yolen's Elfabet: An ABC of Elves - is probably my favorite, from a visual standpoint. Mills' beautiful watercolor illustrations emphasize Thumbelina's delicate, ethereal beauty, while also capturing the cozy appeal of the mouse's home, and the wonder of the sparrow in flight. I can't say that I was as fond of Mills' adaptation of the narrative - apparently intended to give Thumbelina more agency - as the changes made don't seem to add anything to the story. What is the point, for instance, of having Thumbelina's mother consult the old witch a second time, to discuss her fears of her tiny daughter "leaving the nest?" Still, what changers there were, were minor enough that they didn't detract from the overall appeal. All in all, a beautiful edition of this tale!

Historical fiction. Beautiful story that slowly leads reader through the emotions of a child. She becomes a teacher to her classmates about the beauty of memories and shared experiences. Could be used to study poverty and/or Appalachian culture.½

Definitely too long for storytime. A very arrogant prince is turned into a dog, only the love of a maiden can turn him back.

I loved how the author used Minna to portray how young girls are taught to cook, clean, and most of all quiliting. Quilting showed minna how to create warmth and fun/friends.

Very strong female roles. One princess is sweet and compliant while her sister is wild and does her own thing.

The story of twin sisters one wild and different and the other mild and beautiful born to a queen who thought herself barren. The queen eats a magic plant & the weed next to it. With this the hobgoblins extract a promise from the queen to give them the wild child when she turns 12. The wild child is feisty and when her sister gets her head exchanged for a calf's head by the hobgoblins, the sisters head out to defeat the hobgoblins. Of course they each find a prince who loves them truly.