Why read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat?

Book cover of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Book description

Joseph had a little overcoat, but it was full of holes—just like this book! When Joseph's coat got too old and shabby, he made it into a jacket. But what did he make it into after that? And after that?

As children turn the pages of this book, they can…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Joseph Had a Little Overcoat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Caryn Yacowitz

Author

A big reason I love this book is that it’s so much fun to read over and over again—and then some more, finding joy in the cleverness of the text and more joy in the visual humor. (Taback won the Caldecott Medal for this book in 2000.) I also love stories with morals as long as they aren’t moralizing and this one, based on a Yiddish song, teaches “you can always make something of nothing” in the most delightful, warm-hearted manner.

Joseph has a striped overcoat and when it gets old he makes it into a jacket, and then a…

From Caryn's list on Jewish children’s picture stories to read aloud.