Coat of Many Colors, A

This brightly illustrated picture book recounts an incident in Dolly Parton’s youth when she was bullied for being poor when she wore a coat that her mother made her from scraps of many differently coloured fabrics. Although Dolly was sad when children teased her she was proud of her coat and stood up for herself as the coat embodied the love of her mother and family. Suitable as a read-aloud for K-1 or independent read for Grade 2-3, it stresses that poverty is a state of mind and that a loving family can see one through any hardship. Useful to foster discussions about bullying, poverty, accepting diversity, tolerance, and standing up for one’s beliefs, and for language arts and music activities.