Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Bibliography:

Taback, Simms. 1999. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Viking: New York.
ISBN: 0-670-87855-3


Summary:

Joseph has a little overcoat that becomes worn and tattered so he makes it into a jacket.  After some time the jacket becomes worn and tattered so Joseph makes it into something new.  Joseph continues to make new things out of his old clothing and eventually he even makes a story out of his adventures.  Joseph teaches readers that anyone can make something out of nothing.

Analysis:

Simms Taback adapts the traditional yiddish folk song, "I Had a Little Overcoat" to create the story of Joseph's thriftiness.  Told through repetitious phrases and highlighted with die-cut holes in the pages, Joseph's story is a delightful read that lends itself to audience participation.  Readers enjoy Taback's innovative watercolor, Gouache, pencil, ink and collage illustrations as they hold a treasure trove of noticeable additions to the fairly simple language of the tale.

Reviews:

2000 Caldecott Medal

"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. "Which shows...you can always make something out of nothing," writes Taback, who wryly slips himself into his story by depicting Joseph creating a dummy for the book that readers are holding. Still, it's the bustling mixed-media artwork, highlighted by the strategically placed die-cuts, that steals the show. Taback works into his folk art a menagerie of wide-eyed animals witnessing the overcoat's transformation, miniature photographs superimposed on paintings and some clever asides reproduced in small print (a wall hanging declares, "Better to have an ugly patch than a beautiful hole"; a newspaper headline announces, "Fiddler on Roof Falls off Roof"). With its effective repetition and an abundance of visual humor, this is tailor-made for reading aloud." - Publishers Weekly, 1999 (found on Barnes & Noble.com)

Connections:

• Yiddish folk songs study - create books from alternate songs/tales
• Create puppets/flannel board pieces to re-enact Joseph's tale
• Reduce/reuse/recycle activity - use found objects to create something new or even just a piece of artwork
• Author study - Simms Taback:
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
• This Is the House that Jack Built
• Where Is My Friend?
• www.simmstaback.com