The Olden Days Coat [Paperback]

Margaret Laurence (Author), Muriel Wood (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Truly a classic by one of Canada’s finest authors

Ten-year-old Sal is disappointed when she and her parents spend Christmas at her grandmother’s house, instead of at home, like they did before Grandpa died. In order to pass the time, Sal explores the contents of an old trunk. Searching through the old photographs she comes across a little girl’s winter coat, tries it on, and finds herself transported into the past where she makes an unexpected connection to her heritage and her grandmother.

This model tale of time travel was one of Margaret Laurence’s few forays into children’s literature and has remained a favourite of children of all ages. New art by the original illustrator makes this a beautiful book for Christmas and for all seasons. A special treat for Margaret Laurence fans.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Truly a classic by one of Canada's finest authors

Ten-year-old Sal is disappointed when she and her parents spend Christmas at her grandmother's house, instead of at home, like they did before Grandpa died. In order to pass the time, Sal explores the contents of an old trunk. Searching through the old photographs she comes across a little girl's winter coat, tries it on, and finds herself transported into the past where she makes an unexpected connection to her heritage and her grandmother.

This model tale of time travel was one of Margaret Laurence's few forays into children's literature and has remained a favourite of children of all ages. New art by the original illustrator makes this a beautiful book for Christmas and for all seasons. A special treat for Margaret Laurence fans.

From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Author of such critically-acclaimed adult novels as The Diviners, The Stone Angel and A Jest of God, and of such children’s classics as Jason’s Quest and Six Darn Cows, Margaret Laurence remains one of Canada’s most-loved novelists. Her books are printed in many languages and are required reading on many university courses around the world. Margaret Laurence died in 1987.

Artist Muriel Wood is a graduate of Canterbury College of Art and began illustrating children’s books in 1964. She has created designs that have appeared on stamps, in film, and on book jackets, including the first edition of The Olden Days Coat (McClelland & Stewart). For ten years she has taught illustration at Ontario College of Art and presently makes her home in Toronto.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books (November 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887767044
• ISBN-13: 978-0887767043
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,670,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have., April 15, 2005

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Olden Days Coat (Hardcover)

Magraret Laurence, The Olden Days Coat (Tundra, 1979)

Why do I continue to read kids' books at the age of thirty-six? In my more cynical moments, I think it's to increase the count on the number of books I read per year, But every once in a while, I stumble across something like Randall Jarrell's The Bat-Poet or Margaret Laurence's The Olden Days Coat, and these books remind me that things that are written for, published for, and marketed to the under-twelve set are sometimes able to combine the literary weight of the work of a great writer with that certain magic that is the exclusive province of the children's book.

The late Margaret Laurence is, of course, one of Canada's foremost authors, and left us on Earth with a body of her work that is, quite simply, stunning. From the perspective of overall quality and beauty, the complete corpus of Laurence's work is matched by that of few authors who write/wrote in the English language, living or dead. The Olden Days Coat, weighing in at a slim twenty-six pages (with roughly half of those full-page illustrations), is not just a short story; it is a distillation of Margaret Laurence's craft.

The story is a simple one, and oft-heard. Sal goes off to spend Christmas at her grandmother's house. While digging around in a chest of old things, she finds an old coat. When she puts it on, she's transported back in time, and meets a girl her own age. I'm pretty sure you can see where this is going already; why finish? As with any plot that's well-used, there are all sorts of possibilities for the writing to slip into cliché. It never happens. Laurence is razor-sharp here, her prose sparkling as fiercely as it does from every page of The Diviners, her finest moment.

A fantastic piece of work, once that I'll be buying for my own children. Its only true failing is that I didn't want it to end. **** ½

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magical, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Olden Days Coat (Hardcover)

Written by one of Canada's best, the Olden Days Coat is the tale of a girls discovery of her Grandmothers trunk and her subsequent journey back in time to an"olden days" Christmas. Sal's adventure enables her to understand her grandmother better and cherish Christmas and her family