Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is based on a yiddish folk song called "I Had a Little Overcoat", which was one of Simms Taback's favorite songs as a child. The lyrics and music are reproduced in the back of the book. The main character, Joseph, is a resourceful man. The sequential story describes what happens to Joseph's overcoat as it gets worn and old. Instead of throwing the old coat away, Joseph makes it into a jacket. The entertainment for the reader is predicting what Joseph will create next throughout his adventures.
The illustrations and artwork are done using watercolor, Gouache (a type of painting designed to be opaque), pencil, ink, and collage. Each page introduces the reader to new characters through the illustrations. We meet animals on the farm surrounded by flowers constructed through collage. Then we also meet some of Joseph's friends at a fair. Each page is filled with artwork that is appealing to the eye. As you turn the pages, the reader notices the pages are full of holes, just like Joseph's coat. These die cuts on each page help the reader predict what Joseph will do with his coat next.
The moral and theme to the story is one that is very refreshing in today's world, where too often we just throw things away when they get old. The story proves that "you can always make something out of nothing... over and over again!" (Taback 1999).
Taback, Simms. 1999. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Illustrated by Simms Taback.
New York: The Penguin Group. ISBN 0670878553
Awards:
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat earned the Caldecott Award Medal.Classroom Connections:
After reading the book, have children find things around the house, such as buttons, scraps of old cloth, etc..., and using their imaginations, create something new.
Other books written and illustrated by Simms Taback:
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, published by The Penquin Group, copyright 1997.
This is the House That Jack Built, published by Puffin, copyright 2004.
I Miss You Every Day, published by Viking Juvenile 2007
This is the House That Jack Built, published by Puffin, copyright 2004.
I Miss You Every Day, published by Viking Juvenile 2007
Reviews for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
"A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit." -- School Library Journal
"Taback's mixed-media and collage illustrations are alive with warmth, humor, and humanity. Their colors are festive yet controlled, and they are filled with homey clutter, interesting characters, and a million details to bring children back again and again" -- Booklist
"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." -- Publisher's Weekly
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