JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT

JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT

a. Bibliographic data: Taback, Simms. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. Ill. By Simms Taback. New York, New York: Penguin Group, Inc. 1999. ISBN 978670878550.

b. Plot summary:

         Joseph has a little overcoat that is extremely old and worn. So in order to replenish its value, Joseph repurposes the overcoat into multiple different clothing items throughout the story. These items include a jacket, a vest, a scarf, a necktie, a handkerchief, and a button. However, with each item that Joseph creates, we notice that they become smaller and smaller. Joseph continues to find a new creation until he realizes that his final creation becomes lost! But, what will happen next? Will Joseph find his final creation or will the existence of his original overcoat be lost forever?

c. Critical Analysis:

         JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT is an exhilarating story portrayed by Simms Taback in Goache, pencil, watercolor, ink, and collage. This story is about Joseph, a man who has an old and worn overcoat that he refurbishes into multiple different clothing items. This not only shows the reader that old can be made new again, but that you can always be creative with what you have.

In the very beginning of the book, the author includes the statement “and there’s a moral, too!” on the title page, which gives the readers some inquisition on what the author is trying to help us perceive.  The reader also notices that this book is full of abstract detail and colors. Each character on the pages are drawn in cartoon images with a realistic look to them. Although the main characters in the book are drawn out, the pictures located around the rooms throughout the book are undeniably incarnate. A stupendous way that the author is able to hold the readers attention throughout this story is that some of the pages have cut outs of certain types of clothing articles that represent each new item that that the character has made. This is especially important in trying to grasp the attention of the younger audiences reading this book.

As stated by the author in the prologue of this book, there is a moral to the story at the conclusion. Although the character, Joseph, lost his final creation because the size of it was too small to properly maintain, he learned a very great lesson! When Joseph loses his final creation, a button, he chooses to write a book about his creations rather than react in a negative way. My favorite part through this appears on one of the last pages, when he is frantically searching for his lost button. As he gives up near the end of the book, there is a sign on the wall on the same page that reads, “What one has, one doesn’t want, and what one wants, one doesn’t have.” The audience quickly learns, through this book, that “you can always make something out of nothing”.

d. Reviews:

“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. 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." Tim Arnold- Booklist

“Pre-Grade 3-A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit” Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada- School Library Review

“In today's throwaway world, Joseph's old-fashioned frugality is a welcome change. Based on a Yiddish song from Simms Taback's youth (lyrics and music reproduced on the last page), the book is filled with rhythms and arresting colors that will delight every reader.” Emilie Coulter- Amazon.com Review

Awards/Honors:

Caldecott Medal Book

e. Connections:

This book could be presented to the students alongside Simms Taback’s THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY. The two books could be compared and contrasted. Each has the cutouts in the book. This could lead to students trying to make their own cutout books, which could be harder than they think! This would be good for the students to also work on collage work, going through old magazines to cut out pictures to glue in.