Unit 2 Review - Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

 

Bibliographic Information

Taback, Simms. 1999. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. Ill. by Simms Taback. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN: 0-439-21697-4

Plot Summary

A farmer named Joseph notices that his well-worn, well-loved overcoat is fraying at the bottom. Rather than throw the overcoat away, he decides to make a jacket out of it using a needle and thread. When that, too, becomes worn Joseph makes a vest out of the remaining fabric. As the amount of usable fabric becomes less and less, Joseph makes a scarf, handkerchief, and eventually he has only enough left to make a simple button to hold up his suspenders. When his button goes missing, he decides to write a story about his experience to show children that you can "always make something out of nothing."

Critical Analysis

Based on a traditional Yiddish folksong, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback is an adorable story about a man with a coat full of holes -- just like this book, literally! Our story begins with Joseph and his beloved coat that begins to fray, so he turns it into a jacket. When the jacket begins to fray, it becomes a vest. But what did he make it into after that? And that? As my daughter and I turned the pages of this book, she loved the die cut holes giving a “hint” into what the coat would become next. The artwork is one of my absolute favorites I have ever seen in a book. Made from watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, and collage, the illustrations were incredibly detailed and enthralling to search through. My daughter pointed out detail after detail, her favorite being the goose, chicken, or cat on almost every page. It is easy to see why this book earned a Caldecott Honor. The story has a funny but sweet message, “You can always make something, even out of nothing.”

Awards Won & Review Excerpt(s)

*Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a Caldecott Award Medal winner. 

*Simms Taback has also won several awards for his picture book adaptation of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, including a Caldecott Honor Medal, a Parent's Choice Gold Award, and a Parenting Certificate of Excellence (Taback 1999).

*Publisher’s Weekly - As in his Caldecott Honor book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Taback's inventive use of die-cut pages shows off his signature artwork, here newly created for his 1977 adaptation of a Yiddish folk song. This diverting, sequential story unravels as swiftly as the threads of Joseph's well-loved, patch-covered plaid coat. A flip of the page allows children to peek through to subsequent spreads as Joseph's tailoring produces items of decreasing size. The author puts a droll spin on his narrative when Joseph loses the last remnant of the coat--a button--and decides to make a book about it.

*School Library Journal - A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit. When Joseph's overcoat becomes "old and worn," he snips off the patches and turns it into a jacket. When his jacket is beyond repair, he makes a vest. Joseph recycles his garments until he has nothing left. But by trading in his scissors for a pen and paintbrush he creates a story, showing "you can always make something out of nothing." Clever die-cut holes provide clues as to what Joseph will make next: windowpanes in one scene become a scarf upon turning the page. Striking gouache, watercolor, and collage illustrations are chock-full of witty details-letters to read, proverbs on the walls, even a fiddler on the roof. Taback adapted this tale from a Yiddish folk song and the music and English lyrics are appended. The rhythm and repetition make it a perfect storytime read-aloud.

Connections

*Use the book to introduce a unit on Jewish culture or the Yiddish language. Add in other books to tell other folktales like Kibitzers and Fools: Tales my Zayda (Grandfather) Told Me or sing I Had a Little Overcoat in both Yiddish and English.

*Books by other authors that are similar to Joseph Had a Little Overcoat:

Aylesworth, Jim. MY GRANDFATHER’S COAT. ISBN 0439925452

Forest, Heather. A BIG QUIET HOUSE. ISBN 0874836042

Mills, Lauren A. THE RAG COAT. ISBN 0316574074.

*Read the book with children and then have them decorate their own “coats” (coats cut out on cardstock) using art supplies. Display the finished coats for all to see.