Tim Arnold (Booklist, January 1 & 15, 2000 (Vol. 96, No. 9 & 10))
This newly illustrated version of a book Taback first published in 1977 is a true example of accomplished bookmaking--from the typography and the endpapers to the bar code, set in what appears to be a patch of fabric. Taback's mixed-media and collage illustrations are alive with warmth, humor, and humanity. Their colors are festive yet controlled, and they are filled with homey clutter, interesting characters, and a million details to bring children back again and again. The simple text, which was adapted from the Yiddish song "I Had a Little Overcoat," begins as Joseph makes a jacket from his old, worn coat. When the jacket wears out, Joseph makes a vest, and so on, until he has only enough to cover a button. Cut outs emphasize the use and reuse of the material and add to the general sense of fun. When Joseph loses, he writes a story about it all, bringing children to the moral "You can always make something out of nothing." Category: For the Young. 1999, Viking, $15.99. Ages 4-7.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
This story, based on an old Yiddish song entitled "I Had a Little Overcoat," is given new life in Taback's amusing interpretation. The colorful, folk-art style has an added extra--die cut images that tip kids off to the next iteration of the coat. When the overcoat becomes patched and frayed, Joseph makes a jacket. When that begins to wear out, he creates a vest and so it goes until there is only enough fabric left to make a button. When the button is lost, he creates the book--proving that you can indeed make something from nothing. The illustrations contain lots of sly humor, including gags that will appeal to adult readers (his references to the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," pictures on the walls, and newspaper headlines). Words and music are found on the last page. 1999, Viking, $15.99. Ages 3 up.

Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
What do you do with an overcoat that is torn and worn but that is so dear that you can't toss it out? Cut it down, trim it and turn it into something else. That's just what Simms Taback does in his Caldecott Medal book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Taback has clothed this well-known tale with comic characters, bold colors and a die-cut on each page to highlight the journey from coat to button to memory. The only thing left is to tell the story. Each page is enriched with details appreciated more by adults than children--for example, a newspaper headline reads "Fiddler On Roof Falls Off Roof" or "Chelm Rabbi Knows Why the Ocean is Salty" (It's due to the herring)! Family pictures adorn the walls and peer out of apartment windows, Yiddish newspapers lying on the floor, books with authors such as Sholom Aleichem and I.L. Peretz all vie for attention and inspire adults to share this book with their children and grandchildren. The music is included at the end of the book. 1999, Viking, $15.99. Ages 4 to Adult.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2000)
The Yiddish folksong about resourcefulness and resilience is brought to life in Simms Taback's wonderfully inventive watercolor, gouache and collage illustrations. As Joseph's overcoat is worn to an increasingly smaller and smaller piece of fabric, he recreates it, first as a jacket, then a vest, a scarf, a tie, and handerchief, a button and, finally, a song. Taback cleverly uses die-cut pages to show each bit of the garment in its new form and style. Set against the backdrop of an Eastern European village, the paintings are filled with Yiddish cultural references that add depth and humor to the story overall. An author's note at the book's end explains why Taback chose to reillustrate a story he first published in 1977. CCBC categories: Folklore, Mythology and Traditional Literature. 1999, Viking, 36 pages, $15.99. Ages 3-8.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 7))
Taback has reillustrated his 1977 version of a well-known and popular Yiddish folk song. While the image of Joseph himself will be familiar to readers of the earlier title, the artist has enhanced his original concept in mixed-media illustrations (watercolor, pencil, gouache, ink, and collage) that include saturated colors, busy patterns, and the same die-cut technique used in his previous book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (BCCB 3/98). The sometimes overcrowded compositions teem with inside humor and subtle commentary on all things Yiddish: samplers feature theme-related proverbs, the lead story on the front page of a discarded newspaper reads “Rabbi from Chelm Visits Kazrilevke,” a card from Joseph’s sister reads “Zayn Gezundt,” and photos of famous Jews (Sigmund Freud, Sholom Aleichem) hang on the walls. Musical notation and English lyrics for “I Had a Little Overcoat” (Hob Ich Mir a Mantl ) are included, as is an author’s note linking the story’s moral (“making something out of nothing”) to his being able to redo the pictures for this popular title. Adults fond of the 1977 version or of Phoebe Gilman’s adaptation Something from Nothing (BCCB 2/94) will appreciate this visually clever revision. The simple, cumulative text lends itself to group sharing, and now, thanks to Taback’s re-imaging, so do the pictures. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1999, Viking, 34p, $15.99. Ages 3-5 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2000)
In this newly illustrated adaptation of a Yiddish folk song, die-cuts help tell the story of resourceful Joseph, a farmer/tailor, who recycles his worn overcoat into ever-smaller items. A mixture of painting and collage create a somewhat surreal but delightful effect; details in the art make this a pageant of pre-WWII Jewish-Polish life. Clever, humorous, visually engrossing, poignant, this tribute to a vanished way of life is worth holding on to. Category: Picture Books. 1999 (orig. 1977), Viking, 36pp, $15.99. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Elaine Robertson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 12, No. 3))
What a wonderful story! The book is well written and will keep the attention of young readers and/or listeners. Joseph has a favorite coat that becomes worn and ragged. Hating to give it up, he cuts it down to make a vest. When the page is turned, the reader discovers that Taback has used a cut out shape to overlay the coat so that the vest is actually seen as part of the coat. And so it goes until there is nothing left of the coat. Young readers/listeners may even want to stop and try to figure out what Joseph will make next out of his old overcoat. Of course, the story ends with an old moral. Illustrations are fantastic! This is an attention-getter!! Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 1-3. 1999, Viking, Unpaged, $15.99. Ages 6 to 9.