Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Picture Book
Title: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Author: Simms Taback
Age Level: 2-7
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat shows how Joseph turns an old, shabby jacket into something new and when that something gets old and shabby, he turns it into something else.  As you flip the pages, holes are cut out that show what Joseph will make next, until he has nothing left, which he ulitmately makes into a book to show that you can always turn nothing into something special.

Opinion
I thought that this was one of the coolest illustrated books I have read recently.  I remember hearing about this book but do not remember reading it as a child.  The placement of a whole on every other page where the new item will be as you turn to the next page was a creative way to hold childrens anticipation and allow them to see that you can take something and make it into a completely new item just by thinking outside of the box and using your imagination.  This portrays a great message to children that with a creative eye you can turn anything around into something great.  What really caught my eye in this book was that the representational style was present but very minimally.  On each page, for example, there would be objects such as fruit, patterns on the clothes and rugs, pictures on the wall, flowers, and people in the crowd that were real pictures which added an additional element to the illustrations and made them stand out.

I think this book would be an introduction to a fun lesson for younger children on being resourceful and turning something old into something new.  I would probably give kids fabric and ask them to use the fabric to make three different things.  I would not expect them to go in detail with their creations but it would be interesting to see all the ideas that the children come up with.