Joseph Had A Little Overcoat

Bibliographic Information
Yaback,Simms, 1999, Joseph Had A Little Overcoat.ill. Simms Taback, New York: Viking. ISBM 0670878550.
Picture Book; Easy Fiction
Reading Level: 2.0
Audience: 3yrs.-2nd grade
Dewey: E

Plot Summary
This picture book tells in narrative style the story of a man named Joseph and his overcoat. As the coat wears out Joseph does not throw it away but instead he makes something from the useable material.The first thing Joseph makes is a jacket, then a vest. This continues until there is only a suspender button left. When the button gets lost Joseph does not quit. He then creates the story, thus creating somethuing from nothing.

Critical Analysis
Taback's theme is based on an old Yiddish song he heard as a child, Hob Ich Mir a Mantk. The character does resemble Tasback. The moral is stated in the last sentence of the narrative, "you can always make something from nothing." This is a way of life for many people from cultures that believe in self reliance and working with what you have. This story gives the reader a look at the Jewish culture in a way that is both light and yet presents a serious moral.
The illustrations use the collage form of art done in a type of watercolor called, gouache. This is an itallian form known as water splash (gauzzo). The characters are simple figures, almost cartoon like. In contrast to this there are pictures on the wall of real people and books on the floor with pictures of real people. This contrast gives the pages an almost lilting quality like the song it was taken from. The setting is not explicitly stated but we can tell from the illustrations that it takes place in a rural area. The pages also have cut-outs which will catch the interest of the reader as the overcoat becomes a button.
Recycling is an important issue today but we mostly see this in putting in items in recycle bins and not in the more personal way of reusing in a different way what we have.

Review Excerpts
Booklist (Vol.96,No.9/10 (January 1, 2000). "Tabacks' mixed-media and collage illustrations are alive with warmth, humor, and humanity."
School Library Journal (January 2000) "A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit."

Awards
Caldecott Honor Book 2000
ALA Natable Children's Book

Connections
This is a book that teachers can use to connect to several cross-curricular areas. The topic of recycling is obvious and the idea of not being a throw away society. Subject areas that can be connected to this books are;
social studies with the study of Poland and Jewish culture, a stretch to science would be a look at the animals shown in the illustrations and then there is the health connection to the fruits and vegetables shown.
Reading comprehension using ,"Book Talks," would be easily accomplished. Such literary topics as sequence could easily be demonstrated using such activities as making a vest and decorating it with the items made from the overcoat. Most picture books have more teachable vocabulary then does this text but the words worn and chorus can mean different things so these would be good to review with students. One idea for older students facing the writing TAKS here in Texas is to use the story as your hook and then have the children write in a jounal in response to text and tell about when they created something from nothing. If the student can not remember a time when they did this they can then be instructed to write a story using the idea of making something from nothing.
Other books for children can be found that are both fiction and nonfiction. One series called," The Clean and Green Gang." can be found on the web.The volume titled recycle is in the form of a color book at this website;
http://www.impactenviro.com/
If possible it is good to get some recordings of songs for children in Yiddish. Some can be found at: http://www.mamalisa.com/.