Joseph_Had_a_Little_Overcoat
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
1999 book by Simms Taback
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a 1999 children’s picture book by Simms Taback that won the 2000 Caldecott Medal.[1][2] The book is a re-illustrated version of a book of the same name by Taback that was published in 1977.[3] The protagonist is Joseph, a Jewish farmer, who has a little striped overcoat. When it grows old, Joseph makes it into a little jacket and so on until he makes it into a button. Ultimately, Joseph loses the button, but is prompted to write a book based on his experiences. The moral of the story is "you can always make something out of nothing." In 2001, an 11-minute animated film based on the book, directed by Daniel Ivanick and narrated by Rob Reiner, was made by Weston Woods Studios, Inc.
The story has die-cut illustrations consisting of watercolor and collage.[4] Readers of the story say that Joseph greatly resembles Simms Taback.[5]
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is based on the Yiddish song I Had a Little Overcoat.[4][6] Barbara Kiefer, chair of the Caldecott Award Committee, commented, "Vibrant rich colors, playful details, and skillfully-placed die cuts contribute to the books raucous merriment that takes this Yiddish folk song far beyond the simple words."[1]
An animated version of the book was read on the children's show Between the Lions.[7]
