Taback, Simms. 1999. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670878553
2. Plot Summary
The story of Joseph and his overcoat is a traditional tale of reuse and saavy recycling. Joseph's overcoat begins wearing out, so he makes a shorter jacket out of it. Then, he creates a vest, then a scarf, and so on until the reader thinks he cannot make anything else. Each time Joseph makes something new, it coincides with an activity or adventure for him. Just when we think he has run out of ideas, he makes something out of nothing!
3. Critical Analysis
First published in 1977 and republished in 1999 with new illustrations by the author, the story of Joseph and his little overcoat is based on a Yiddish folk song that Simms Taback enjoyed called "I Had a Little Overcoat". Taback recreated the illustrations in order to prove "you can always make something out of nothing...over and over again!" This book has a fable-like quality since there is a lesson to be learned. The second publishing earned the book a Caldecott Medal Award. This tale is structured in a way that children will be able to latch on easily, especially due to its repitition in phrasing and the die-cuts on each page to keep the reader guessing what Joseph will make next out of what was originally a plaid overcoat. The theme of "waste not, want not" really, truly comes across in this endearing tale. Joseph never speaks as the entire book is written in a narrative form, but readers will know much more about Joseph through the illustrations. Although the book can be read very quickly, teachers will want to take their time reading to students so they are able to understand the full story.
Taback is also the illustrator, and he uses ink, pencil, watercolor, patchwork collages, and gouache (mixed-media) to bring this story to life. Each page is vibrant and bursting with color. Images fill each page to the brim, and some of the people and images are real photographs that have been imprinted on the page. The characters themselves have a cartoonish look about them with their showy teeth and beady eyes, but Taback still manages to incorporate some realistic people features. Children, young children especially, will be drawn into the bright, busy pages. The teacher will want to make sure she points out and explains some of the harder to understand images such as the photographs of Jewish figures on the walls and the newspaper articles written in Yiddish on the floor. A class discussion on how the character Joseph in the story looks like the author and why that is could take place. Older children will more than likely pick up on some forms of irony in the articles such as, "FIDDLER ON ROOF FALLS OFF ROOF." There are many possibilities for using this particular book's words and pictures.
4. Review Excerpt(s) and Awards:
Winner of The Caldecott Medal Award
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "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."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Pre-Grade 3-A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit."
BOOKLIST: "This newly illustrated version of a book Taback first published in 1977 is a true example of accomplished bookmaking--from the typography and the endpapers to the bar code, set in what appears to be a patch of fabric. Taback's mixed-media and collage illustrations are alive with warmth, humor, and humanity."
5. Connections
A. This story would be excellent to use for the start of a science unit on recycling or reusing materials to save resources.
B. Students could write their own versions of the story by thinking of another creative object they could repurpose as it became worn and old.
C. This story could be used in middle to high school grades in order to discuss combining (compound) sentences and conjunctions.
D. This book would be great for discussing the Jewish culture (or multi-culturalism in general) as well. There are many Yiddish phrases and references throughout the pages.
E. For younger children this book could be used for a lesson on predictions and patterns within books.
F. This story needs to be read aloud for pure enjoyment.
Other stories about reusing/repurposing materials:
Gilman, Phoebe. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING. ISBN 9780590472807 (Modern adaptation folk tale of JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT)
Bergen, Lara. DON'T THROW THAT AWAY. Ill. Betsy Snyder. ISBN 9781416975175
Inches, Alison. THE ADVENTURES OF AN ALLUMINUM CAN. Ill. Mark Chambers. ISBN 9781416972211
Siddals, Mary McKenna. COMPOST STEW. Ill. Ashley Wolff. ISBN 9781582463162
Other stories with illustrations from Simms Taback:
Taback, Simms. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY. ISBN 9780670869398 (Also a Caldecott winner)
Taback, Simms. THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. ISBN 9780142402009
Taback, Simms. I MISS YOU EVERY DAY. ISBN 9780670061921
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| Image from Amazon.com |
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