Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
Summary: WV State College Student
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!
Rating:
Summary: College student
Review: In this story, Joseph has an overcoat that is worn and old. He makes the overcoat into a jacket. As the story progresses, the jacket becomes a vest. The vest becomes a scarf. The scarf becomes a necktie. The necktie becomes a handkerchief. The handkerchief becomes a button. In the end, the button is lost. Joseph writes a book about his overcoat down to his lost button. He claims that you can take nothing and make something.
The pages in the book have cut-outs. Children can use their imagination and guess what Joseph will make next. There is more to this story than the text itself. The reader should look at the illustrations and read the newspaper clippings. There are several cultural items in the illustrations that a teacher could use to discuss the culture. I truly enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: Joseph teaches a great lesson to children
Review: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a great children's book about a man who starts out with an overcoat, and ends up with only a story. Joseph's overcoat becomes old and torn but he doesn't throw it away. He uses what is left of it to make a vest and several other pieces of clothing. The last thing he ends up with, before he has only a story, is a button. Joseph uses the thread of the overcoat until there is nothing left. Even when there is no thread left, Joseph writes a story about his overcoat and how you can always make something out of nothing. Taback Simms', Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, is a wonderful book for children with a powerful moral lesson behind it. Anyone can learn a useful lesson from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Word and Picture Connection
Review: Joseph Had A Little Overcoat, by Simms Taback, is about a Jewish man named Joseph and his story with his overcoat and how it became to be non-existent. Joseph starts the book with a worn out over coat, with colorful patches. As time goes on the overcoat is eventually worn into nothing. Through out the book different articles of clothing are made out of the material. This can help a reader learn what things such as a scarf or a vest are because the word is shown and a visual of the word is on the page. Visualization is the key to learning new words. The creativity that is in this book is astounding. The pictures, colors, and cut outs help the reader visualize what Joseph is doing with the fabric from the overcoat. A lot of children do not use scarves and vest and handkerchiefs all to often. The pictures and cut outs in this book help the child learn new words such as those with a visual aid. This book also teaches animals and other objects that can pose questions in a child's mind and help expand their vocabulary. With the pictures of the clothing, a child can see what a "scarf" is or something else that they might not be sure of what they are. If the child doesn't know what a word is they can see the picture and understand that it is a vest, and that can help them relate a word to a picture. I feel that Taback does a wonderful job tying in all the elements that help teach a child to read. This book is very educational with the word and picture connection. This book is a creative way to teach clothing, new words, and sparks ideas about objects and their alternate uses. It is very important for children to understand what a word is when they use it. In our society it is seems as though no one has time anymore to sit down and explain what certain words are. It is sort of expected for children to learn by themselves. Joseph's little adventure with his coat can help a child learn different articles of clothing and different uses of words. If a child can read then they can learn the words because the picture is right there in front of them. We all have different ways to learn, and it a child is a visual learner then I strongly suggest this book and this method of teaching.
Rating:
Summary: A Symphony of Color.
Review: Poor Joseph works on a farm and wears a little overcoat that is old and worn. It becomes so old and worn that Joseph has to cut and sew it into a jacket, but then the jacket becomes old and worn and Joseph turns it into a vest. And so on and so forth until Joseph learns that you can always make something out of nothing.
There really isn't a whole lot of story here. However, what the book is full of are brilliantly bright colors and inside Yiddish-cultural references. Each page of the book is filled with vivid colors that draw one's eyes all over the page like a motion picture, hoping not to miss a single thing. The book strongly appeals to children because of this color scheme and also because of the cutouts on every other page that allow children an opportunity to guess what Joseph will make next.
However, as delightful as children will find this book, adults with a background in Jewish culture might find it even more enjoyable than children do. On almost every page there are pictures, tiny letters, miniature newspapers, illustrations, etc. that allude to Jewish culture. I admit that I don't know very much about the Jewish culture, but was able to figure out a few of the references. I particularly was amused by the tiny hand-written letter and newspapers that had English headlines but the rest of the story was written in Hebrew. I think someone who could actually read Hebrew would appreciate things like that even more. This edition of the story also includes the lyrics and music to a song the author adapted, "I Had a Little Overcoat". Thanks, Simms Taback!
Rating:
Summary: It's all about making do...
Review: Such a wonderful story to counteract a throwaway culture! Children will enjoy it for its matter-of-fact humor, clever cut-out format and almost primitive art. Adults will love it for the frugal message that manages to be clear without a lot of pedantic moralizing.
Rating:
Summary: Something can always be made into something else.
Review: Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York: Penguin Group, 1999 Set in a small farming community, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat tells the story of a man named Joseph who has nothing but turns nothing into something. Joseph has an overcoat that is "worn and shabby". He decides to make it into a jacket. When the jacket becomes worn, Joseph makes it into a vest and this process of making a new article of clothing out of the worn overcoat material continues throughout the book. Then one day, Joseph loses his button and has nothing. As always, Joseph turns his nothing into something by writing a book about this overcoat. Taback uses the illustrations, the simple text, the cover and the dye-cut pages to convey the book's theme: something can always be made into something else. The cover of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat has a black frame around the illustrations and Joseph's name is made out of scrap material, the overcoat has dye-cut holes to show that it is worn, the words are written in yellowish-orange and the S and the T in Taback's name are written in red. All these features will appear again within the pages of the book. As the reader turns to the endpaper, the reader will notice that they appear to be made of scrap material. The scrap material creates interest in the reader, foreshadowing that the overcoat will be made into other article of clothing. The title pages give the reader more insight into Joseph's daily life. Once again, Joseph's name is written in scrap material to indicate his resourcefulness. The two orange pages make the reader feel warm and loving toward Joseph. The title pages also have fruit, thread, vegetables, scissors, needles, and buttons scattered around. These items suggest that Joseph is a simple man who farms for a living. Simms uses the black framing, dye-cut pages, the J in Joseph's name written in red and the words written in yellowish-orange again. These four things stay constant throughout the entire book. Taback did this to show consistency in Joseph's life. The black frame and the illustrations span both pages, creating a window effect, which allows the reader to become an observer of Joseph's life. Taback uses warm colors to make the reader feel comfortable and at home. The yellowish-orange color was used in writing the word to again make the reader feel comfortable with Joseph and what is happening in the story. Die-cut holes are skillfully used throughout the book to show the reader what Joseph will make next. They also remind the reader that the article of clothing came from an old worn out piece of clothing. At the very end of the story, Taback writes the readers a letter telling them that he adapted the book from an old Yiddish folk song called "I had a Little Overcoat"; opposite the letter, Taback has the music and words to the song. Adding the song to the end makes the book more personal. The final pages are again scraps of material to remind the reader of the ongoing theme: something can be made out of nothing.
Rating:
Summary: A great moral lesson for children.
Review: Taback, Simms. Joseph had a Little Overcoat. New York: Penguin Putnam Books, 1999. In Simms Taback's, Joseph had a Little Overcoat, Joseph teaches a simple moral lesson to the reader about being resourceful and thrifty. Throughout the book, Joseph makes his overcoat into many different pieces of clothing. He begins with his overcoat becoming a jacket. He then makes a vest out of his jacket, a scarf out of his vest, a necktie out of his scarf, a handkerchief out of his necktie, and then a button out of his handkerchief. In the end, Joseph writes a book about making something out of nothing. He proves to the reader that you can make something out of very little. Taback, also the illustrator, uses watercolor, pencil, ink, and color patchwork collages to illustrate this Caldecott award winning children's book. Many illustrations consist of clippings from magazines and photographs. This paints a realistic picture. Pictures of real coffee cups and saucers are arranged on a shelf that Taback drew. This technique is also used in the rugs on Joseph's floor. Taback has drawn the rugs but placed photos of real pieces of a rug into his drawing. This is such a unique and innovative characteristic of Taback's illustrations. The colors that Taback chose to use are very vivid, primary colors. This may represent the simpleness of Joseph's life. Taback also uses "cut-outs" to illustrate to the reader how Joseph's overcoat becomes different articles of clothing. Each time this occurs, the "cut-outs" get smaller, to show each different piece of clothing that Joseph is wearing. On each page of this book, Taback illustrates various aspects of the life of a Jewish peasant. Jewish life in Poland is visible to the reader through pictures of farm animals, various fruits and vegetables, the minora, Jewish proverbs, motza crackers, and hot tea with lemon. Each of these symbolize Joseph's culture. Taback also convinces the reader that music is a prominent part of the Yiddish culture. One illustration of this shows Joseph dancing at his nephew's wedding, while musicians play. There is another example showing Joseph singing in the men's chorus. In both of these illustrations, Joseph appears to be enjoying the music. It is also evident that Joseph's family and community are a central part of his life. This is a characteristic of the Yiddish culture. Many illustrations in this book have a Jewish proverb hanging on the wall. One proverb says "What one has, one doesn't want, and what one wants, one doesn't have." This indicates a society that is not materialistic. Another proverb simply states, "Better to have an ugly patch than a beautiful hole." Again, thriftiness and simplicity are valued. Pictures of different individuals, such as Moishe, the Melamed, the Rebbe, and Molly Picon, are hanging on the walls of Joseph's home. These individuals must have a special meaning to Joseph and are a part of his culture. Another interesting part of the book is the trip that Joseph takes to the city. Taback illustrates Joseph in his finest clothing. This may show that he does not leave his community often and he only does so on special occasions. Finally, this book captures your attention by the simple moral lesson presented. The book shares information on a culture many people are not familiar with. This simple story promotes cultural diversity along with an ethical message.
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