A New Coat for Anna
At the end of World War II, Anna needed a new winter coat, but her mother had no money. They use valuable things they own to barter for the goods and services needed to produce the coat.
Interested in using this resource in your classroom? Check out the posters that go along with this book: Trade & Money, Productivity, Productive Resources, Natural Resources, Human Resources, Capital Resources.
Author: Harriet Ziefert
Illustrator: Anita Lobel
Published: 1988
Reading Level: .5
Grade Level: PreK – 3
Lexile Measure: 690L
Publisher: Knopf
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Comprehension Questions
Explain how Anna got a new coat for the winter without any money.
Her mother traded a gold watch and other nice things for wool and the skilled human resources needed to make the coat.
Explain why Anna and her mother had no money.
It was wartime and no one had any money.
What is it called when people make trades without using money?
Barter
List all the trades Anna’s mother made in order to get the new coat.
Gold watch to the farmer for wool; a lamp to the old woman to spin wool into yarn; garnet necklace to the weaver to weave yarn into cloth; teapot to the tailor for sewing cloth into a coat.
Why do people make trades (i.e. exchange goods or services)?
They expect to gain from that trade/exchange.
What natural resources were needed to produce the coat?
Wool from the sheep, lingonberries.
What human and capital resources were needed to produce the coat?
List all the steps for producing Anna’s new coat.
Shear the sheep, spin the wool into yarn, dye the yarn, weave yarn into cloth, sew the cloth into coat.
Explain why it took much longer for Anna to get her coat than if she had money to buy one.
They had to wait until spring to shear the sheep. They had to wait until the end of the summer to get the berries. They had to wait for each person to do each step in the process of making the coat.