Joseph+Had+a+Little+Overcoat

//Written and Illustrated by Simms Taback //
 * Joseph Had a Little Overcoat **

//Reviewed by: Alyssa Zadrovicz //



Title: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat Author: Simms Taback Illustrator: Simms Taback Publisher: Viking Press Genre: Children’s Literature Publication Date: 1999 ISBN: 978-0670878550

media type="youtube" key="28BwwIsUj9M" width="415" height="236" Song that accompanies the book called "I Had a Little Overcoat"

**Summary**: Joseph is a man who has a little overcoat, and it is old and worn. After it gets old and worn, Joseph creates new items of clothing from what is left of the overcoat. He makes a jacket, a vest, a scarf, a necktie, a handkerchief, and finally a button. One day, he loses the button and has nothing, so he decides to write a book about it, which shows that “you can always make something out of nothing”!

**Book Review**: Simms Taback’s children’s book, //Joseph Had a Little Overcoat// was adapted from his favorite Yiddish folk song called “I Had a Little Overcoat” which he decided to make into a book. The book can be enjoyed by children and parents alike. The magnificent illustrations done by the author capture the reader’s attention. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat teaches children “you can always make something out of nothing”.

**Author Biography**: Author and illustrator Simms Taback has written and/or illustrated over 40 books. He was born in New York City in 1932. His book, //Joseph Had a Little Overcoat// won the Caldecott Medal in 2000 and another book of his, //There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly//, received a Caldecott Honor. He also received several Notable Book designations from the American Library Association, Parents’ Choice Gold awards, and the Sidney Taylor Award. In addition, he illustrated the first McDonalds Happy Meal box. Mr. Taback passed away on December 25, 2011.

**Literary Element Analysis**: Repetition is prevalent in //Joseph Had a Little Overcoat//. Every other page starts out saying “Joseph had a little (clothing item). It was old and worn.” After his clothing items get old and worn, there is a resolution that forms on the next page saying, “So he made a (clothing item) out of it”. With the story set up this way, it can display conflict and resolution to the reader. The conflict is that Joseph’s clothing continues to get old and worn and the resolution is that he makes new clothing from the old and worn ones. On page 25, the repetition keeps up saying, “Joseph had a little button”, but then it changes to “one day he lost it” instead of saying the usual “It was old and worn”. The use of repetition can give the reader a sense of structure as well as add rhythm to the story. Repetition can generate meaning and can help develop patterns. This story also has a clear moral on the last page that states, “You can always make something out of nothing”. Morals are great to include in children’s books because it teaches the reader some valuable lessons.

The happy and detailed illustrations in this book are phenomenal. Simms Taback not only wrote the story, but he also illustrated it using watercolor, Gouache, pencil, ink, and collage. The warm and vibrant colors without a doubt capture the reader’s attention and help create visual images of what is happening in the story. Children can see what items Joseph will be wearing next and what part of the clothes he made from the previous ones because Taback used die-cut holes in the pages. The use of this type of illustration camouflages with the others until the reader turns the page.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Example of one of the 1st McDonalds Happy Meal boxes illustrated by Simms Taback.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Example from one of the pages found in the book which shows Taback's use of die-cut <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">holes. The reader can see the shape hidden in the cow which will be his new clothing item.