Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

I picked up this book with no knowledge of it, but knowing that Simms Taback had written There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and I remember that book from when I was much younger. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, by Simms Taback, won the Caldecott medal in 2000. I have to say, this is definitely a visual experience. On the same page as the dedication and the credits is a note that says "the artwork was done using watercolor, Gouache, pencil, ink and collage". As if this isn't enough, there are also die-cuts throughout the entire book! I have to admit, the title page made me laugh. Of course there was the title, but then in small print it said "He wore the coat for a long time and then something happened to it. (and there's a moral too!)". It read like something a student would say when trying to summarize this book, and it hadn't even started yet! Too bad "something happened to it" doesn't cut it for a complete summary.

In the pictures there are drawings and watercolor drawings and photographs of real objects and people. So many different mediums have been combined flawlessly into one story. Often illustrators have their preferred mediums that expresses something further about the story or the characters, but this is almost like Taback couldn't decide which would be best. In the end, this book's uniqueness could never be duplicated or equaled. And as if that wasn't enough, as Joseph's coat progressively gets smaller and smaller from the time and wear, there are die-cut patterns in adjoining pages that only demonstrate their use and function when you turn the page.

I found myself staring at each picture trying to identify the different patterns and fabrics, looking at each face and object, noting the similarities and difference of each medium. Beyond how they are made, however, the pictures really tell the story of an entire culture, not just Joseph. The Yiddish and Jewish way of life is given breath as the story moves across the pages. There are photographs and food and newspapers and ... a moral! Ta-da! As Joseph did, kids can see that "You can always make something out of nothing."