Traditional Literature-Review of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

A. Bibliography:
     Taback, Simms. (1999). Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York, NY: Viking-Penguin Group. ISBN: 0670878553

B. Plot Summary:
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a tale by Simms Taback, of Jewish background.  The tale is an adaptation from a Yiddish folk song called, "I Had a Little Overcoat".  The story begins with a man, Joseph, who is wearing a noticeably worn coat.  As you turn the page, the reader notices a cut out on the page.  When you place the cut out page on the first page, you see that now the overcoat has been cut out into a jacket worn by the main character.  Each piece of clothing gets old and worn.  As you read the story, the garments get smaller and smaller, until finally it is a button.  Joseph loses the button and comes to the realization that even though he has nothing, he can make something out of nothing.  So he creates a book about his overcoat and what he's made out of it.  

C. Critical Analysis:
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a very original tale about a man who uses his creativity to reuse his piece of clothing over time.  Each time, the clothing gets smaller and smaller.  The reader finds himself curious to see what Joseph will create on each page.  When first reading it, I thought the book was damaged!  It turns out that these were die cuts showing Joseph's new clothing creation.  

The combination of collage, die cuts, watercolor and ink demonstrate why this was a Caldecott Medal winner.  I found myself taking a couple of minutes to read each page, so I can read some of the small newspapers on the page, look at the collage cut outs of the characters in the background and read some of the themed messages displayed throughout the book.  The theme is one that many people can benefit from "You can always make something out of nothing."  

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Author's note in the back of the book.  This is where I learned that the book was adapted from a Yiddish song.  The next page of the book features the song lyrics and song melody to "I Had a Little Overcoat".  The reader can find the song and video to the book on Youtube.  This is something to definitely share with students.  One area that could've been improved was the interaction between characters.  Since it was adapted from a song, there was not any dialogue between Joseph and other characters.

D. Review Excerpts:
**Publishers Weekly states, "This diverting, sequential story unravels as swiftly as the threads of Joseph's well-loved, patch-covered plaid coat."
**Sharon Grover and Lizette Hannegan of SLJ state, "In this work based on a Yiddish folksong, Taback’s spirited, well-paced narration lets the illustrations shine.  Playful sound effects extend the humor, while the Klezmatics’s rousing music reinforces the focus on Jewish culture." 

E. Connections:
Students who enjoyed this story would also enjoy There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback. He uses the collage style in this book as well.  There are many other musical read aloud books, such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  One activity that can be done with students is have them create their own version of the book, where they all start with an overcoat.  Throughout their retelling, they create die cuts and pages with various objects created out of the original coat, similar to the book.  The concept of reusing objects and clothing is valuable for students to recognize and practice to take care of our planet.