Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Written and Illustrated

by Simms Taback

1. Bibliography

Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York: Viking, 1999. ISBN: 0670878553

2. Plot Summary

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a traditional tale based off of a Yiddish song.  Joseph, a peasant, begins the story with a plaid overcoat that becomes old and starts fraying at the edges.  Each time the plaid fabric becomes worn out Joseph turns it into something else to wear.  First Joseph turns the overcoat into a jacket and wears it for a long time.  The jacket becomes old and worn out and Joseph turns the jacket into a vest.  When the vest becomes tattered and torn Joseph turns it into a scarf.  The plaid fabric keeps getting turned into a different article of clothing until Joseph makes it into a button and loses the button.  When Joseph realizes he no longer has any piece of the original overcoat he has to use his creativity to make something out of nothing.    

3. Critical Analysis

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a traditional tale adapted from a Yiddish folk song.  The story takes place at Joseph’s house in Poland and in his town.  Simms Taback, the author and illustrator of this tale, keeps the reader guessing throughout the story as Joseph transforms the plaid overcoat fabric into different articles of clothing.  Taback uses watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, and collage to create the captivating pictures in this story.  Each picture is outlined in black shading that draws the readers attention to the dark shades of color used in the pictures. 

Taback's collage technique is blended so beautifully that it takes a second glance to see the real pictures mixed in with the watercolor pictures.  For example Taback drew yellow flowers outside Joseph’s house, and then put real pictures of flowers next to them on the pages.  Taback also cleverly cuts out the outline of the next article of clothing that the coat will be turned into on each page.  As the reader turns the page the cutouts make the jacket become a vest and the vest become a scarf.  Children will enjoy guessing the next article of clothing on each page. 

Taback also portrays cultural elements throughout the story with the background images.  The pictures and words show Joseph interacting with the people of his town who are wearing traditional clothing.  There are also objects such as a menorah and a dreidel on some of the pages.  Taback puts letters, newspapers, song lyrics, and saying on many of the pages with English and Hebrew writing on them to give the reader clues about Joseph’s culture.  The letters show that Joseph lives in Poland and communicates with family.  He also visits family in the story showing that family is an important part of his life and culture.  The lyrics and choir Joseph sings in show that music is important to him and the people of his town.  The sayings on Josephs walls and the way that Joseph turns his coat into different clothes when it gets worn out, show the simple side of Josephs life and that he is not wasteful.  The overall message that Taback portrays with this story is that “you can always make something out of nothing.”   

4. Review Excerpts

Caldecott Medal Award 2000
Winner of The National Jewish Book Award 1999

Publishers Weekly- As in his Caldecott Honor book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Taback's inventive use of die-cut pages shows off his signature artwork, here newly created for his 1977 adaptation of a Yiddish folk song. This diverting, sequential story unravels as swiftly as the threads of Joseph's well-loved, patch-covered plaid coat. A flip of the page allows children to peek through to subsequent spreads as Joseph's tailoring produces items of decreasing size. The author puts a droll spin on his narrative when Joseph loses the last remnant of the coat--a button--and decides to make a book about it. "Which shows...you can always make something out of nothing," writes Taback, who wryly slips himself into his story by depicting Joseph creating a dummy for the book that readers are holding.

Still, it's the bustling mixed-media artwork, highlighted by the strategically placed die-cuts, that steals the show. Taback works into his folk art a menagerie of wide-eyed animals witnessing the overcoat's transformation, miniature photographs superimposed on paintings and some clever asides reproduced in small print (a wall hanging declares, "Better to have an ugly patch than a beautiful hole"; a newspaper headline announces, "Fiddler on Roof Falls off Roof"). With its effective repetition and an abundance of visual humor, this is tailor-made for reading aloud. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

5. Connections

Discuss the message or moral of the story.  Talk about a time when you turned something old into something new.  Discuss concepts about recycling and talk about different ways to do so.   Plan a recycling project such as an old coat drive.

Talk about the different kinds of writing in the newspapers, letters, and sayings on the walls.  Then research information about Yiddish or Jewish culture.  Read other traditional books about the Jewish culture.

It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale by Margot Zemach ISBN: 978-0374436360

Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken
Chicken Man by  Michelle Edwards

Do an author study on Simms Taback.  Talk about Taback life and read other books written by Taback. Compare similarities in his illustrations and writing.  Discuss Jewish cultural elements he may include in other books.

Kibitzers and Fools by Simms Taback ISBN: 978-0670059553

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback ISBN: 978-0670869398

This is the House That Jack Built by Simms Taback ISBN: 978-0142402009

I Miss You Every Day by Simms Taback ISBN: 978-0670061921

Postcards From Camp by Simms Taback ISN: 978-0399239731