Caldecott Award Winner

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Taback, Simms. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT (Caldecott Medal Book). Library Binding ed. New York: Viking Juvenile, 1999. ISBN 0-670-87855-3

PLOT SUMMARY

Joseph is a man that wears the same overcoat every day. When the overcoat becomes too worn he turns it into something smaller; a jacket. As it becomes more worn he makes it into smaller and smaller things so that he can get as much use out of it as possible. In the end when he can no longer make something out of the material he writes a book about the coat. The moral is that you can always make something out of nothing.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Joseph had a Little Overcoat is a classic story with Joseph as the main character. The plot is simple and clear. There is little to no build up of background or of the character. It is clear from the beginning that the main object of the story is this worn overcoat. The story continues in a chronological, obvious order. As the coat gets worn, it gets made into something new. The climax is small, although it does leave the reader to wonder what will happen next. The moral of the story is clear and precise at the end of the story. It is a moral that is ageless.

The illustrations of the book are what give excitement to the viewer. The pictures are bright and lively, great for the viewing of young children. The illustrator uses watercolors, gouache, pencil, ink, and collages in his work. While the illustrations are plenty, they do not have a great deal of elaboration in them, although it is not missed. The human figures are a bit extreme and cartoon like which is great for young viewers. Perhaps the most interesting visual aspect of this book is the cut outs from page to page which allow the viewer to see through the page to see what Joseph will be making next.

I found the story to be simple and cute. The illustrations are what made reading the story worthwhile.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

“clever, visually engrossing, poignant, it's worth holding on to.” HORN BOOK

“The only clever though in the garish folk-primitive illustrations are the jacket-, vest-, etc. sized holes which show readers the progressive diminishing of the old coat.” SLJ


CONNECTIONS

*This story would be a good reference to use when teaching a class of young children to not be wasteful.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp308-01.shtml
This website provides a lesson on using things we would normally throw away to make something beautiful out of.

*It would also be a good lesson for parents to show their children that not all people are privileged and always get new things. We must be grateful for the things we have.