The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood, by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, joins the small group of children’s books by Native authors about celebrating Christmas. In her story set in the early 20^th century, the author remembers how exciting it was to unpack Theast boxes of used clothing and shoes sent by church congregations in New England. She hoped that there would be a coat just her size in the boxes from “the east” which arrive on the reservation in South Dakota before Christmas. She gave up the only coat that fit her to a more needy school mate, but still loved the Christmas Eve celebration with the Nativity pageant which included the 3 Wise Men - boys wearing “headdresses that only the wise leaders and elders of the tribe could wear.”  It’s a great book, suitable to sharing throughout the year and is the 2012 American Indian Youth Literature Award winning picture book.

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My  Sioux Childhood. Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. Holiday House, 2011.