Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

by Simms Taback

Overview

Joseph had a little overcoat, but it was full of holes--just like this book! When Joseph's coat got too old and shabby, he made it into a jacket. But what did he make it into after that? And after that?

As children turn the pages of this book, they can use the die-cut holes to guess what Joseph will be making next from his amazing overcoat--while they laugh at the bold, cheerful artwork and learn that you can always make something, even out of nothing

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591124122
Publisher:	Live Oak Media (NY)
Publication date:	11/28/2001
Series:	Live Oak Readalong Series
Pages:	1
Product dimensions:	9.12(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.86(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Simms Taback grew up in the Bronx and graduated from Cooper Union. He has worked as an art director and a graphic designer, and has taught at the School of Visual Arts and Syracause University. He has illustrated many children's books, including I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking), Spacy Riddles, Snakey Riddles, Buggy Riddles, and Fishy Riddles (all written by Katy Hall and lIsa Eisenberg, Dial).His work has won many awards, including the Caldecott Honor Award Medal for I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book.A father of three and grandfather of three, Mr. Taback lives with his wife in Willow, New Yorkcopyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

Editorial Reviews

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. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

What do you do with an overcoat that is torn and worn but that is so dear that you can't toss it out? Cut it down, trim it and turn it into something else. That's just what Simms Taback does in his Caldecott Medal book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Taback has clothed this well-known tale with comic characters, bold colors and a die-cut on each page to highlight the journey from coat to button to memory. The only thing left is to tell the story. Each page is enriched with details appreciated more by adults than children--for example, a newspaper headline reads "Fiddler On Roof Falls Off Roof" or "Chelm Rabbi Knows Why the Ocean is Salty" (It's due to the herring)! Family pictures adorn the walls and peer out of apartment windows, Yiddish newspapers lying on the floor, books with authors such as Sholom Aleichem and I.L. Peretz all vie for attention and inspire adults to share this book with their children and grandchildren. The music is included at the end of the book. 1999, Viking, Ages 4 to Adult, $15.99. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

This story, based on an old Yiddish song entitled "I Had a Little Overcoat," is given new life in Taback's amusing interpretation. The colorful, folk-art style has an added extra--die cut images that tip kids off to the next iteration of the coat. When the overcoat becomes patched and frayed, Joseph makes a jacket. When that begins to wear out, he creates a vest and so it goes until there is only enough fabric left to make a button. When the button is lost, he creates the book--proving that you can indeed make something from nothing. The illustrations contain lots of sly humor, including gags that will appeal to adult readers (his references to the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," pictures on the walls, and newspaper headlines). Words and music are found on the last page.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

Pre-Gr 3-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.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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