Joseph Had A Little Overcoat Essay
JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (“Overcoat”) is a far more sophisticated text than the simple bouncing prose and deliberately “folksy” illustration might at first suggest. Good children’s literature is far more than simple entertainment or a resource for teaching very basic information. A good children’s book transcends these mundane uses, and is simultaneously an excellent pedagogical tool, a sophisticated medium for transmitting culture, a psychologically satisfying “hero’s journey,” and an engaging work of art. As Kimberly Reynolds observed, “...[C]hildren’s literature is both a crucial and a dynamic part of culture.” (3) Furthermore, this is an enduring book, with many of the merits of great literature. This paper is not a dispassionate analysis, it is an ardent argument that Simms Taback has ‘ascended the brightest heaven of invention!’ and earned the Caldecott Gold Medal on artistic and literary merit.
OVERCOAT AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL
Overcoat is a sophisticated pedagogical tool, offering a rich resource for very young readers’ exploration and interaction with an adult.
“Greenhoot et al. (2014) examine[d] the effect of storybook illustrations. Specifically, they gave parents either illustrated or non-illustrated …show more content…
stories to read with their 3–4-year-old children. Illustrated stories lead to more verbal and non-verbal exchanges between parents and children during shared reading and better recall of the story events by children.
There are numerous objects used as repeated decorative motifs where the objects (animals and crops on the farm, sly references to Jewish life, old photographs, etc.) become a back-ground texture and a delightful exploration with a young child.
The text, art, color palette, line, and textures that the author/illustrator, Simms Taback, chose are all reassuringly familiar and used throughout to support the gentle whimsical folk tale. There are, however, numerous small details, from photo collages to faked newspaper clippings, to family photos, that contribute hours of “I spy” fun for preschoolers and lend detail to Eastern European Jewish peasant life. “Can you find the pink rose?” “The newspaper?” “Joseph’s family
pictures?”
Beyond direct instructional value, the pictures and words work powerfully in unison to convey mood, setting, and plot. As Perry Nodelman has noted, “...pictures communicate more universally and more readily than do words.”iii The narrative is strongly supported by the pictures; as each remade garment becomes old and worn, the picture shows fraying, stains, and patches. The clever die cuts reinforce the “shrinking of the overcoat” and offer a preview of the next iteration of the garment. The cheerful orange and gold hand-lettered font perfectly captures the quaint, humble, old-fashioned character of the story and provides emergent readers with an excellent model of penmanship.
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (“Overcoat”) is a far more sophisticated text than the simple bouncing prose and deliberately “folksy” illustration might at first suggest. Good children’s literature is far more than simple entertainment or a resource for teaching very basic information. A good children’s book transcends these mundane uses, and is simultaneously an excellent pedagogical tool, a sophisticated medium for transmitting culture, a psychologically satisfying “hero’s journey,” and an engaging work of art. As Kimberly Reynolds observed, “...[C]hildren’s literature is both a crucial and a dynamic part of culture.” (3) Furthermore, this is an enduring book, with many of the merits of great literature. This paper is not a dispassionate analysis, it is an ardent argument that Simms Taback has ‘ascended the brightest heaven of invention!’ and earned the Caldecott Gold Medal on artistic and literary merit.
OVERCOAT AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL
Overcoat is a sophisticated pedagogical tool, offering a rich resource for very young readers’ exploration and interaction with an adult.
“Greenhoot et al. (2014) examine[d] the effect of storybook illustrations. Specifically, they gave parents either illustrated or non-illustrated …show more content…
stories to read with their 3–4-year-old children. Illustrated stories lead to more verbal and non-verbal exchanges between parents and children during shared reading and better recall of the story events by children.
There are numerous objects used as repeated decorative motifs where the objects (animals and crops on the farm, sly references to Jewish life, old photographs, etc.) become a back-ground texture and a delightful exploration with a young child.
The text, art, color palette, line, and textures that the author/illustrator, Simms Taback, chose are all reassuringly familiar and used throughout to support the gentle whimsical folk tale. There are, however, numerous small details, from photo collages to faked newspaper clippings, to family photos, that contribute hours of “I spy” fun for preschoolers and lend detail to Eastern European Jewish peasant life. “Can you find the pink rose?” “The newspaper?” “Joseph’s family
pictures?”
Beyond direct instructional value, the pictures and words work powerfully in unison to convey mood, setting, and plot. As Perry Nodelman has noted, “...pictures communicate more universally and more readily than do words.”iii The narrative is strongly supported by the pictures; as each remade garment becomes old and worn, the picture shows fraying, stains, and patches. The clever die cuts reinforce the “shrinking of the overcoat” and offer a preview of the next iteration of the garment. The cheerful orange and gold hand-lettered font perfectly captures the quaint, humble, old-fashioned character of the story and provides emergent readers with an excellent model of penmanship.