Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

rdf:langString Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

rdf:langString Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

rdf:langString Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

rdf:langString Moishe's Miracle

rdf:langString So You Want to Be President?

rdf:langString You Never Know

rdf:langString Snowflake Bentley

rdf:langString Joseph Had a Little Overcoat cover

rdf:langString PZ7.T1115 Jo 1999

rdf:langString United States

rdf:langString Simms Taback

rdf:langString Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a children’s picture book by Simms Taback that won the 2000 Caldecott Medal. The book is a re-illustrated version of a book of the same name by Taback that was published in 1977. 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 was directed by Daniel Ivanick and narrated by Rob Reiner by Weston Woods Studios, Inc. The story has die-cut illustrations consisting of watercolor and collage. Readers of the story say that Joseph greatly resembles Simms Taback. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is based on the Yiddish song I Had a Little Overcoat. 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." An animated version of the book was read on the children's show Between the Lions.