Joseph is a man who is very creative. He has an overcoat that is very special to him. Instead of getting rid of it, he continues to make use of it learning to make new things out what good he has left. He goes from an overcoat to a jacket, vest, scarf, necktie, handkerchief, and finally a button. After all Joseph has done to save this precious overcoat and reuse it, he loses the button. However, instead of letting all of his efforts go to waste once he loses the button he writes a book about the whole process to show that “you can always make something out of nothing”.
Simms Taback writes and illustrates Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, which won the Caldecott Award in 2000. This award distinguishes books in which the illustrations go above and beyond to greatly extend the meaning of the text. Taback absolutely accomplishes that in this book through the cutouts in each page. Not only does the text tell the story about making something new out of something old, but so do the actual pages. From the original page of the large overcoat, each page after that has a little cutout showing his new product but what is behind the cutout is the original overcoat. So that when the reader looks at the page showing the vest, they see the vest out of the same material as the overcoat, but if they flip back they will realize it is the actual page behind it showing the overcoat coming through. This unique way of illustrating allows readers to physically see and understand the concept of making something new out of something old. It is also encouraging to readers to see that the author/illustrator is practicing this in a very practical way.
While the illustrations are excellent and definitely extend the text, the text is more at a younger elementary level. The overall idea of the book to always make something new out of what you have is an excellent message for all students, but this book would be more appropriate for younger grades. It would be an excellent book to read prior to doing an art project. I remember the first time my art teacher in elementary school told me when I was upset that I “messed up” my project, that in art you can never mess up, you use your “mess up” to make a new creation. This has forever stuck with me and I think the message of this book can do the same, not only for an art classroom but also for projects in a regular classroom. This not only relates to art but also writing and anything a student can create. It is never too early to learn how great it is to make something new out of something old.
Your wonderful review of this book makes me think that this book might be useful when introducing the topic of conserving or recycling. It would definetely be a different way to go about it, but it sounds like a teacher might be able to mix art with a little science through this book.
ReplyDeleteThe art and unique way of keeping the same coat throughout the book sound so neat! I think you're right about the interdisciplinary opportunities. Also, I think that this concept could be used at home. Not every child is surrounded by positivity unfortunately and need to know that nothing is a permanent mistake.
ReplyDeleteI'm all about using hands-on activities in the classroom. This book seems like a great way to introduce art projects to my students. Better yet, it's also a creative way to teach them about recycling and resourcefulness. I think that this book can be an effective interdisciplinary instructional tool for teachers and learning resource for students.
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