#2 Caldecott Book

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
The first, and most obvious thing that I liked about this book is that it has a moral to it. Reading for pleasure if wonderful, and so many times books are just for fun…which again is great. But every now and again, you run across a book that is fun and has a moral! Especially in today’s society, I think I it is important that our children realize that you can make something out of nothing! I also enjoyed the cutouts on the pages that showed what he had turned the overcoat into. It gave you something to look forward to when turning the page.

When I first heard the title, I was expecting it to be something along the lines of Joseph’s coat of many colors…the bible story. It surprised me that is wasn’t. Because I have children of my own, and work with a lot of at-risk students, I think this story is so important…that it really doesn’t matter what you have (a lot of our students do not have much). If you try you can make something out of it! I also want my own children to learn this concept. I don’t want them to think that they have to have a lot to be happy.

I did not realize that he was also the author of This is the House that Jack Built. We have that book at home and my children LOVE it! They especially love the illustrations which are similar to this one. We also have the version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

I think I learned, or at least was reminded, that fun books can have good, worthwhile morals to them. Sometimes, at least in my head, books that have morals tend to be boring and to preachy. This book showed me that they can be fun and meaningful. Teaching about frugality is more and more important in today’s society.