Children's author Sue scores a winner after working with Sheffield Wednesday and city schools

Sue Ellis had set her previous two books in Sheffield and both involve owls who are Wednesday supporters. That’s because her husband David and children Katie and Robert are Owls fans too.

The club’s Community Programme asked Sue to be their author for a year and write a story about knife crime which they could use in primary schools. Sue, who lives in York and supports Liverpool, wanted The Lost Coat to be sensitive and but allow young children to discuss the topic at their age and stage.

She wrote a story centred around children’s coats in a school cloakroom and read it to the children of eight Sheffield primary schools at their World Book Day event in March 2019 at Hillsborough stadium.

The primary schools involved were Wharncliffe Side, Hallam, Malin Bridge, Shooters Grove and Hillsborough Primary Schools, Pathways Primary Academy and Nether Green Junior School. She also visited Lowfield Primary School and read it with them.

Sue said: “The pupils’ feedback was constructive and perceptive and after further fine tuning working with the pupils from a York primary school my publisher accepted it.”

Finally after a lot of lockdown hold-ups, The Lost Coat will be available to buy on March 31. So what is the story?

Sue said: "All the children’s coats in the school cloakroom chat happily to each other about their day. One coat, however, has a horrible, shameful secret! What could that secret be? Find out how one lonely coat turns into a cool coat when its owner makes wise choices!

"Children, parents, grandparents and teachers will enjoy the humour in the story and agree that sharing a problem with others helps to keep us all safe, happy, hopeful, optimistic and confident. It touches on empathy and good communication skills.”