Big Sister, Long Coat, pleasant, albeit forgettable lesson about change

There’s a hazy, fine line between a book that’s relaxing and the same one verging into sleepy. Big Sister, Long Coat is an illustrated book that straddles that line but also runs deeply into the other category, depending on the audience. It’s a book that could easily make for a relaxing story time session on the alphabet carpet at the end of the day, it can also end the day as little ones fade away, but also might escort some kids to slumber when it’s not intended.  Big Sister, Long Coat also sounds like the start to a song by Cake that exists in an alternate universe.

Big Sister, Long Coat is an illustrated book about adapting to things that don’t go your way. It’s from the perspective of a younger sister who is spending the day out on the town with her older sister. The two start early, but the day quickly goes south with it being hotter than expected, long lines everywhere, and a sudden, prolonged downpour that soaks everything around them. During the day the younger sister gets bummed out and eventually has a meltdown.

Granted, that’s to be expected because her ice cream falls on the ground and her sister’s slightly large raincoat is just big enough to accommodate both of them for an instance when it starts to rain. That happens on one page and you might quickly assume that they share the coat because the younger one doesn’t have a rain jacket. However, on the very next page, both girls have on a rain jacket and proceed to try to make the best of a rainy day. They go to the zoo, but all of the animals are hanging out in their dry nests or burrows, so they change their plans, explore the city, make their own fun and take the train back home.

Neither jacket is particularly long. They both go down to the wearers’ respective knees, however, on the book’s cover the jacket is clown-sized, looks as it it’s being inflated by air and goes down to their shins. I realize that you’re not reading Big Sister, Long Coat for its fashion sensitivities or proportional accuracy. It’s an illustrated book with some exaggerated angles and simple text about two girls having a fun day in the city.

The lesson about overcoming or adapting to unavoidable instances is one that kids need to experience. Bad days happen. Those periods when it seems like nothing is going your way will occur. When that does come your way, kids need to know that it doesn’t help you or the situation to melt down about it. There’s a lesson in Big Sister, Long Coat that, when talked about with young audiences will make the inconsistencies that seem people have with it go away. It does lead to conversations about changing plans, but will need a little adult guidance in order to full realize the point. The book will resonate with kids who want to read about city kids, and kids that have a big sister but might find themselves in a valley of others, despite its good, soft intentions.

Big Sister, Long Coat is by Nelly Buchet with illustrations by Rachel Katstaller and is available on North South Books.

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