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Summary: A Really Cute Children's Book!
Review: "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat," by Simms Taback is a really cute children's book. In the beginning of the book Joseph starts out with an overcoat. As it gets worn he finds many other uses for it. In the end he has only a button left and loses it. He then learns that you can make something out of nothing. Children will love this book. The pictures are great.
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Summary: Absolutely Excellent!
Review: A remarkably simple story of a man who, treasuring a piece of the past, carries his memory of a beloved overcoat into the future. Like my son's beloved "silkie blankie," this man's treasure becomes smaller and smaller. Still, it carries considerable importance to him. And when it's gone?.... Great story.My son still has a piece of his blankie. One day, perhaps he, too, will be able to make something from nothing.
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Summary: Just keeps on getting better...
Review: At first my 4 year old son turned his nose up at it (no construction trucks or policemen here!), but a few nights later I read it to him and he wanted me to re-read it to him again. Well, that was last week, and it has been his book choice every night since. Very colorful, interesting artwork with people tucked here and there, and peering out of windows. He loves wondering about all these people involved in Joseph's life. I recommend it totally. It really captured his imagination.
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Summary: Teaching 5th grade
Review: Dear Readers, This story deals with the theory of makingsometing out of nothing. One may think that there is no hope forcreating something from nothing at all, but children need to know otherwise. Through the reading of this book children can expand their own creative ideas about the world around them through the use of their own imaginations. You can visualize the large coat and how the material from that coat can be used and used until there is no more. Teachers could relate this to learning about the process of recycling. A unit could be created with the help of the children regarding the topic of recycling. The classroom could develop a schoolwide-recycling center. The children could explore the great outdoors and learn how we recycle things to produce other things. Extension lessons to be taught from that unit would be conservation, pollution, and endangered animals. This book could also be used to further enhance the writing process. Children could create their own version of this story. The story could be developed around a thing that interests them. It could be tied in with any of the units mentioned earlier. Through the sharing of their story creations, students would develop a sense of belonging and importance within a community of learners. I really enjoyed reading this book. I already share with my students a similar story called "The Taylor". I think the concept taught throughout the story is a great one. The activities that can be developed with the use of this book are endless.
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Summary: Wonder of wonders
Review: Ever feel like you're too ignorant to read a picture book? For example, when you pick up "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat", do you understand all the references the book's pictures make? If not, can you truly say you understand the nature of the book itself? These were the questions I had to ask myself after reading author Simms Taback's fabulous retelling of the Yiddish folk song, "I Had a Little Overcoat" (Hob Ich Mir a Mantl). The book is a crazy conglomeration of mixed media, die-cut pictures, and steady inside jokes for the well informed parent. Photographs, Hebrew script, and pen & ink abound in this colorful cacophony. I just wish I was smart enough to get all its jokes and references.
The plot, such as it is, is pretty straightforward. There's Joseph, just an average guy living in a shetl. When the book begins he has a long overcoat that's grown ratty around its edges. Quick thinking Joseph turns it into a jacket and goes to a fair. Then the jacket gets worn so it's quickly converted into a vest for when Joseph dances at his nephew's wedding. You get the picture. By the end, Joseph has whittled his former overcoat down to a mere button which he then loses. Is that the end of it? Not on your life. "So Joseph made a book about it. Which shows... you can always make something out of nothing".
The book uses a clever die-cut technique to give our hero's rapidly shrinking wardrobe a neat page to page continuation. Therefore, a page with a vest cut into it slips easily over a former picture of Joseph wearing his jacket of the same fabric. And so on. The illustrations are in a bright and colorful style, filled to overflowing with reds, greens, blues, and oranges. The scenes themselves are set in a kind of "Fiddler On the Roof" setting. In fact, there are multiple references in the pictures to Sholom Aleichem and his "Tevye der Milkhiker" (Tevye the Milkman) on which "Fiddler" was based. In addition there are references to people like Molly Picon, Mendele Mocher S'forim, and I.L. Peretz. The book is set up in such a way that a reader can pore over each detail and individual element for long periods of time. Kids who read it will discover new tiny intricacies that they may have missed in prior readings. Of course, who knows how many will get the references? Aside from Sholom Aleichem and a framed print of Sigmund Freud, I was as clueless as they come. Reading this book, I had the distinct feeling that my knowledge of Jewish history and culture is sorely lacking. But that's okay. The important thing is that this book is rife with life, energy, and a style completely of its own. It's a joy to read.
Would I necessarily have given this book the Caldecott Award it eventually received? Put my answer down as "maybe". It's hard to say. The book itself is interesting and each page an entirely new creation. I imagine it will not be to everyone's tastes. Just give it a try when you've a chance. If you'd like a picture book that displays a kind of Jewish storytelling with life and energy, "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" is your best bet.
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Summary: WV State College Student
Review: I am a student at West Virginia State College currently taking a class called Children's Literature. Our instructor required us to read a Caldecott Medal book as part of our assignment and write our personal view of the book. This is a great children's book. This book is about a man named Joseph who had an overcoat, which gets old and worn and he makes a jacket out of it. Once the jacket gets olds and worn, he makes a vest out of it. Joseph continues to make something out of the overcoat until there is nothing left to make out of it. The moral of the story is you can always make something out of nothing. The pictures in this book are very bright and colorful. The pages in the book have cut outs so the children can use their imagination and guess what Joseph will make next. This would be a great book to read aloud in a classroom for children of ages 5 - 8.
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Summary: Welcome back, old friend!
Review: I am so thrilled to see this book released again! My son (now 18) wore-out our copy as a toddler. We both love the simple humor and the enduring message of worth in all things. I can't wait to introduce the book to my Kindergarten class - wonderful kids whose lives revolve too much around how many Beanies they have collected. And what a treat to have the original song added to the book to share a piece of Yiddish heritage.
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Summary: Brillant Illustrations
Review: I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoy this book. The story and illustrations are wonderful and captivating. Don't overlook even the background in this fun jewish folktale. This author/artist has one die hard fan in me... Oh, yeah, and my two year old likes it, too!
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Summary: great for teachers
Review: I read this book to 130 second graders in the cafeteria and they loved it!. The illustrations were beautiful. It lends itself to a great writing prompt with a project attached! Don't forget those fifth graders, too! Nancy Usich Avon, Ct
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Summary: A Child's review
Review: I think the best review comes from a child's viewpoint. I bought this book for my 2 1/2 year old son. Since the first day he had the book we have to read it every night and 2 to 3 other times during the day. If you ask him to pick a book to read, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is one that is always chosen. I do not think there can be a better recommendation on a child's book than a child wanting the book read over and over and over again. And that the child knows the book well enough to choose it himself to "read" and for it to be read to him. Also, from my (the parent's) viewpoint the history of the story and the tune in the back to sing just gives so much more to the story itself. It gives history and a way to take the story with us even if the book is not available.
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