Module 7: The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Full Citation


Lyga, Barry. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. Boston: Graphia, 2007. Print.


Summary


Donnie is a gifted high-schooler who's having a terrible time of it both at school, where he is relentlessly bullied, and at home, with his pregnant, high-strung mother and "step-fascist." He sees his only out of this miserable life is his graphic novel, Schemata, about a schoolteacher with superpowers. When he befriends, Kyra another loner who dubs him "Fanboy" (and he dubs her "Goth Girl" in return), he finds he might have to be the superhero in real life.

My Impressions


I'll come right out with it and admit this book made me very uneasy at first. When the narrator started fantasizing about taking the school hostage, I was sure the book was headed in a very tragic direction. Instead, the author chose to make it a very emotional and quite entertaining at times story about one teen loner's journey into understanding those around him better. As an author myself, I loved Donnie talking about his own creative process in creating Schemata, and I wish it was real. With bullying tragically making the news once again, this is a timely read for teens and adults about how one person handles it.   


What Other Reviewers Said


6-8 9-12 This novel will strike a timely chord with any student who feels bullied or ostracized. 15-year-old Fanboy is a comic book infatuated genius who lives with his divorced and pregnant mother and the “step-fascist.” The only good thing going for him is the graphic novel he is creating. When classmates pick on him for no apparent reason, he creates “The List,” and daydreams of a school shooting. It is not until he meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, that he starts to learn how to act around others. The loneliness and pain are captured so vividly that his daydreams become understandable, which contrasts well to his discovery that he isn’t so hated and that other people have needs, too. Kyra’s intense issues added to the novel, and the lack of bloodshed was a pleasant surprise. It was disappointing to this reviewer when Kyra and Fanboy blackmailed the assistant principal, and “The List” was never addressed. However, the believability of the characters and the topic will
be a sure hit with readers and definitely provide food for thought. Librarians should be aware of strong language. Recommended. - Spencer Korson, Media Specialist, Bullock Creek High School & Middle School, Midland, Michigan (1)

Gr 9 Up -On good days, Fanboy is invisible to the students at his high school. On bad ones, he's a target for bullying and violence. When a classmate is cruel to him, Fanboy adds him to "The List" and moves on. His only real friend, Cal, is a jock who can't be seen with him in public. Their love of comics, though, keeps them close friends outside of school. Reading comics and writing his own graphic novel, Schemata, are the only things that keep him sane. He dreams of showing his work to a famous author at a comic-book convention and being discovered as the next great graphic novelist. When Goth Girl Kyra IMs him with photos of him being beaten up, he's skeptical. Why does she care what happens to him? He learns, though, that she's as much an outsider as he is. The two form a tentative friendship based on hatred of their classmates, particularly jocks, and her interest in Schemata. Fanboy is a rule follower, but Kyra is a rebel with a foul mouth. She teaches him to stand up for himself, and gives him the confidence to do it. Lyga looks at how teens are pushed to their limits by society. Though he toys with such concepts as teen suicide and Columbine-like violence, the novel never turns tragic. His love of comics carries over into all three teen characters, breathing animation into a potentially sad but often funny story. This is a great bridge book for teens who already like graphic novels. By Stephanie L. Petruso, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Odenton, MD (2)

Suggested Activity


Team students up to draw and write a short graphic novel that details what happens next for the characters.

Other Actvities

(1) Korson, Spencer. "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl." Library Media Connection 25.7 (2007): 81. Computer Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

(2) Petruso, Stephanie L. "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl." School Library Journal 52.11 (2006): 141. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

Module 7: No More Dead Dogs

Full Citation


Korman, Gordon. No More Dead Dogs. New York: Hyperion for Children, 2000. Print.


Summary


"... the dog always dies. Go to the library and pick out a book with an award sticker and a dog on the cover. Trust me, that dog is going down."


So says football player Wallace Wallace to his eighth grade English teacher about the assigned material, Old shep, My Pal, who in return gives Wallace detention until he writes a "proper" report. The trouble is, Wallace can't lie and that's really how he feels, so he's left with nothing to do after school then hang around the drama club, and it just so happens that their latest production in a dramatization of Old Shep written by the teacher. Wallace gives the teacher advice to improve the play, winning the hearts of the drama club while horrifying the drama club president, Julia Roberts-wannabe Rachel Turner. Can Wallace Wallace find out who's sabotaging the play and finally get his report written?


My Impressions


That quote above made me know I had to get the book right away, having just read Sounder for a class module on Newbery winners a few weeks before. It was a very clever premise, but the execution didn't quite follow through. Still, it's very funny and the main characters are very appealing (I especially loved the little sub-plot about the English teacher finding his inner rock star), making it a very light and entertaining read for middle-schoolers.


What Other Reviewers Said

This was one of the funniest books I have ever read! The main character, Wallace, an eighth grader and a football player, is well known for never telling a lie. His English teacher, Mr. Fogelman, assigns the class to write a book review of his favorite book, Old Shep, My Pal (1951). Wallace doesn't lie but says he thinks the book is awful; besides, you know that the dog will die before starting page one "because the dog always dies." This makes Mr. Fogelman angry and he gives Wallace a detention. Wallace is to write and turn in a good review. Detention ends up meaning that Wallace cannot play or practice football until the proper "review" is written, and the detention must be served with the drama club, which is directed by Mr. Fogelman. Not only is Wallace extremely honest, he is very stubborn. The next review he writes is still not acceptable, so he must continue coming to the drama club practices as part of his "detention." Middle school kids will enjoy this book because it is so typical of their language, actions, and ideas. It would make a good book to read aloud to a class. Recommended. (1)

Gordon Korman's multigenre novel (part mystery, romance, epistolary fiction, and drama) No More Dead Dogs traces the unwonted directorial debut of its eighth-grade protagonist Wallace Wallace. After being suspended from the football team as punishment for writing a scathing review of his English teacher's favorite childhood book Old Shep, My Pal, the boy with a truth-telling fetish must learn to play politics or kiss his athletic career good-bye.... The joke upon which the title turns is Wallace's unhappy realization of a particular leitmotif in American literature: the sacrifice of countless dogs (e.g., Old Yeller, Sounder, Bristle Face). This becomes a metaphor for the premature loss of innocence, which the drama kids (believing they have intuited the source of Wallace's angst) chant in unison at rehearsal: "No more dead dogs." The fact is, while the book packs plot, it lacks witty follow-through of this amusing premise. We have no idea why Wallace initially champions the dog cause (other than a refusal to cater to the taste of his teacher); in fact, the book has nothing to do with the title theme whatever. Instead, No More Dead Dogs refocuses its attention on the travails of the president of the drama club, Rachel Turner, as she struggles to preserve the authority and artistic integrity of her theatrical mentor, Mr. Fogelman. Rachel, incidentally, is a girl with a bizarre fixation on Julia Roberts who writes obsessively to the star for counsel. There are other problems with No More Dead Dogs. The book is filled with jokes aimed at an adult audience rather than one comprised of middle schoolers (e.g., one character spews a bountiful supply of mixed metaphors that the author must explain, uncommon as they are in the parlance of kids: "It's the icing on the gravy," "by any stretch of the means," "If the cake fits, eat it"). These are jokes that desperately wish to be funny but the book produces only one that would be considered genuinely amusing to its demographic. Wallace Wallace is relentlessly pursued throughout the story by a Mephistopheles-like ex-best friend named Cavanaugh who refers to the protagonist repeatedly as "Jackass Jackass." Even as I write that, I laugh--in a juvenile, David Spade sort of way. In my opinion, No More Dead Dogs had serious potential to be a much better book than the writing produced. - S. Graber. (2)

Suggested Activity


Have kids share endings of books or movies they didn't like. How would they change it? Have them write or act out their all-new "alternate ending."

Other Citations

(1) Clarke, Jo. "No More Dead Dogs (Book Review)." Book Report 19.5 (2001): 60. Computer Source. EBSCO. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

(2) Blasingame, James, et al. "Books for adolescents." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 46.2 (2002): 178. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

Module 6: Frindle

 Full Citation


Clements, Andrew, and Brian Selznick. Frindle. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Division, 1996. Print.

Summary

Nicholas Allen has always known how to stir up a little good-natured mischief at Lincoln Elementary School. When Nicholas starts fifth grade, however, he finds he just might have met his match in one Mrs. Lorelei Granger, the fifth-grade English teacher who treats the dictionary like a sacred text. It's a comment Mrs. Granger makes in class one day about how it's the people who determine what what words are acceptable for common use that gets Nick's greatest scheme yet going. Soon kids all over the school start calling their pens frindles, causing a sensation all over the small town of Westfeld, New Hampshire, and soon all over the country...

My Impressions 


From the title, I thought this was going to be a fantasy story. Finding out instead that it's a sweet realistic (well, everything in this story could happen) school story made me enjoy it just as much, if even more. I loved following both the young boy who has no malevolent intentions learning probably one of the largest scale object lessons of all time and the stern but loving teacher who is his biggest cheerleader and guide, even if neither of them know it yet. This would be a great story to read aloud in a class. Clement's avuncular tone and the illustrations by Caldecott-winner Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) keep the proceedings light-hearted the whole time.

What Other Reviewers Said

Can you imagine finding the word frindle in one of this century’s newest dictionaries? I think that might have happened if Andrew Clements’ book Frindle had won a Newbery award five years ago. Few young readers can resist identifying with fifth-grader Nicholas Allen, who coined a new word for pen- frindle- and managed to give his dictionary-loving teacher, Mrs. Granger, a new challenge. Like countless readers who have honored this book with numerous state awards, I am amused by Nick’s efforts to pursue getting this “new” word included in the dictionary. The author manages to tell a tale in which students respect their language arts teacher but are willing to assume consequences for minor acts of defiance. Eventually Mrs. Granger and Nick come to an understanding that has positive lifelong mutual benefits for the class as well as for readers who realize the power of language. This book makes a great read-aloud. In addition, it is an easy sell to elementary-school children, who readily recommend it to their friends. They always ask if there are more books like Frindle. – Judy Moburg (1)


The author has created a fresh, imaginative plot that will have readers smiling all the way through, if not laughing out loud. Nick, a champion time-waster, faces the challenge of his life when confronted with the toughest teacher in school, Mrs. Granger. Always counted on to filibuster the impending test or homework assignment away, Nick has met his match in "Dangerous Grangerous," who can spot a legitimate question in a second and has no patience with the rest. In answer to "Like, who says that d-o-g means the thing that goes 'woof' and wags its tail? Who says so?" she replies, "You do, Nicholas. You and me and everyone in this class and this school and this town and this state and this country." And thus is born frindle, Nick's new name for pen, promising and delivering a classic student-teacher battle along the lines of — but far funnier than — Avi's Nothing But the Truth (Orchard). The battle assumes the proportions of a tall tale, and although outrageous and hilarious, it's all plausible, and every bit works from the premise to the conclusion. The brisk narration is rapid-fire, and Nick is one of the most charming troublemakers since Soup. The merchandising future of this one is too terrible to contemplate; the cutting-edge gift this Christmas has got to be a frindle. (2)

Suggested Activity

Have young readers think of other things in their lives that in their opinion could use new or better names. Then have them write a definition down and include an illustration if possible. Combine the pages together to create your own dictionary!

Other Citations

(1) Warrell, Beth, et al. "It Should Have Won a Newbery!." Book Links 11.5 (2002): 15. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

(2) Watson, Elizabeth S. "Frindle." Horn Book Magazine 72.6 (1996): 732. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

Module 5: Mr. Maxwell's Mouse

Full Citation


Asch, Frank, and Devin Asch. Mr. Maxwell's Mouse. Toronto: Kids Can, 2004. Print.


Summary


When Mr. Howard Maxwell receives a promotion at work, the cat forgoes his usual baked mouse at the Paw and Claw Restaurant and orders a raw mouse, no killing necessary. However, this turns out to be a mistake as the little mouse proves to be quite a handful.

My Impressions


I'm a cat person, but even I was cheering for the mouse in this clever story about brains besting brawn. I re-read the book several times just to look over the lavish illustrations, and I'm sure many young readers will do the same.


What Other Reviewers Said


This father/son team has concocted a delicious cat-and-mouse tale in which small outsmarts large. Every day, Mr. Howard Maxwell, a proper and pompous cat, orders baked mouse at the Paw and Claw Restaurant until the day of his promotion to Vice Manager of Efficiency Control, when he chooses a raw mouse for his entrée. When the dish arrives, the white mouse, reclining on rye toast, engages Mr. Maxwell in conversation (despite his mother's admonitions not to fraternize with his food), employing one rose after another to delay his demise: sprinkling salt, ordering a glass of wine, and requesting a prayer. The mouse deviously creates a catastrophe that enables him to escape and free all the other mice. The computer-generated art is stylishly elegant, dramatically colored in dark hues of slate and black, and handsomely designed with the text printed in white on black sidebars. Effective telescopic perspectives zoom closer as the mouse gets nearer to being eaten. Visually stunning, the period setting (1930s England?), captivating illustrations, and tongue-in-cheek dialogue create a delectable tail, er, tale of one-upmouseship to be savored. (Picture book. 5-8) (1)

K-Gr 3-- A clever game of cat and mouse is presented with delicious humor by this father/son team. Mr. Howard Maxwell, a dapper, pompous feline, lunches daily on baked mouse at the stuffy Paw and Claw restaurant, but today is different. Promoted to Vice Manager of Efficiency Control at Taylor, Bentwell and Nipson, he celebrates by ordering raw mouse instead. The entrée arrives "stretched out on a single slice of rye toast as if sunning itself on a sandy beach" and proceeds to engage its prospective nemesis in conversation, a wily plan to escape its fate. Mr. Maxwell falls into the trap, is tricked into cutting into his own tail, and the mouse gets away, freeing the other mice awaiting consumption and creating mayhem in the restaurant as well. Recuperating in the hospital, Mr. Maxwell receives a note that reads, in part: "I'm sure you would have taken similar measures had you found yourself in my position … I bear you no ill will and can only imagine that you feel the same." Readers will relish the formal language as a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to a very funny, if macabre, story. In keeping with the black humor, dark but lush illustrations, rendered in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter, depict an Edwardian setting with the staid, elegant restaurant interior just begging to be thrown into chaos. White text against glossy black panels perfectly suits the mood, and atop his mustard brown toast the little white mouse glows with cleverness. A truly scrumptious treat. (2)

Suggested Activities


Play "Restaurant" with a twist. Have a box of animal masks; after picking a mask, the reader playing "Mr. Maxwell" has to order accordingly.


Other Citations


(1) "MR. MAXWELL'S MOUSE (Book)." Kirkus Reviews 72.16 (2004): 802. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 30 Sept. 2010.


(2) Orlando, Marie. "Mr. Maxwell's Mouse (Book)." School Library Journal 50.9 (2004): 154. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Sept. 2010.

Module 4: When You Reach Me

Full Citation


Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb, 2009. Print.


Summary 


It's 1978, and twelve year old Miranda is dealing with a few issues. Her best friend Sal has been totally avoiding her since he was mysteriously punched, there's a mysterious "laughing man" hanging around, and to top it off, she starts receiving mysterious notes that seem to be written from the future. As the note-writer implores her to tell him/her everything about her sixth grade year, Miranda talks about her family (her mother's getting ready to go on the $20,000 Pyramid), her friends (her issues with Sal as well as her new friends Annemarie and Colin), and her school life.


My Impressions


This is a book that definitely requires multiple readings. The first time I read it, I was so caught up in the central mystery that I missed the greater theme of a girl growing up and learning that people aren't always what they seem. Stead puts in lots of great detail of the era, such as the $20,000 Pyramid as well as Miranda's favorite book (and fellow Newbery winner!) A Wrinkle in Time. 

What Other Reviewers Said

Gr 5-8-Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls "the laughing man" and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics. Stead's novel is as much about character as story. Miranda's voice rings true with its faltering attempts at maturity and observation. The story builds slowly, emerging naturally from a sturdy premise. As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streets-in Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers. (1)

A science-fiction tale firmly rooted in reality, When You Reach Me is the written correspondence between Miranda, a latchkey kid growing up in New York City during the 1970s, and the time traveler she has yet to meet. In order to prevent a tragedy Miranda must tell the truth about her sixth-grade year. "You won't be yourself when you reach me," Miranda writes to the mysterious stranger, "but you will get the job done." Rebecca Stead successfully reveals two important portals to the future--time travel and preadolescence. "It's kind of a special time," says Stead, when kids realize, "life is so much more complicated than I thought--and it's not all about me." Like the heroine of her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, Miranda struggles just as much with immaturity as she does with the laws of physics. With issues ranging from her mom's embarrassing wardrobe to her sudden estrangement from her friend Sal, Miranda learns that growing apart is part of growing up. "A lot of my strongest memories about friendship come from the making and the breaking and the discovering," says Stead. Like all preadolescents, she said, Miranda discovers the "ability to look at people from a slightly wiser point of view." (Ages 10-14) (2)

Suggested Activities


Have kids discuss other favorite books, movies, and TV shows that feature time travel. How are they alike? How are they different?

Other Citations

(1) Augusta, Caitlin. "When You Reach Me." School Library Journal 55.7 (2009): 93. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.

(2) "When You Reach Me." Kirkus Reviews 77.22 (2009): 16. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.

Module 4: The Wheel on the School

Full Citation


DeJong Meindert. The Wheel on the School. New York: Harper, 1954. Print.

Summary


For years, migrating storks have avoided the roofs of the small Dutch fishing village of Shora, and Lina, the town's only school-girl wonders why. Inspired by her teacher's encouragement and a town elder's stories, Lina and her schoolmates Jella, Auka, Pier, Dirk, and Eelka, begin search for wagon wheel to place on every roof in town for the storks to nest. In the process, they get to know other figures around the town.

My Impressions


The first three or so chapters of this fairly obscure Newbery winner really drew me in. I wasn't really familiar with life in Holland beyond the old legend of the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike, and the book did a really good job of painting a mental picture for me. (Maurice Sendak's brilliant-as-usual illustrations might have also played a role in that.) The story meandered near the end, but still it would make a great pick for young readers because it shows children being resourceful while also learning that there's often more to the adults in their lives than they think.

What Other Reviewers Said

"This is so much more than the story of a group of school children trying to bring storks to their Dutch fishing village on the North Sea. It is a story of people - people everywhere. It is a story of how important people are, irregardless of their age, physical condition, or how they make a living. It encourages us to go beyond what we see on the surface. It shows us that when we help others and care about others, good things will come to us. The children originally wanted to lure storks to their little village because the storks were said to bring good luck. Little did they know that storks would send good fortune ahead in the form of new-found friendships, help for others, and a community that came closer together than it had been before. Miendert DeJong does a masterful job of telling the story and providing strategically planted links as the events take place and unfold. I am an elementary teacher in Cabarrus County, NC. I have read this book to my children each year for many years. When I ask my new class if anyone has heard of the book, no one raises a hand. By the time we finish, the children feel like they have been right there with Lina and the boys. They have also grown to realize that Janus was far from being the mean old man that they met at the beginning. They realize that he just needed to be needed. Each time I read the book, I see more and I learn more. Don't read this story just once. You will be walking over a hidden treasure." (1)

"Frankly, the book didn't sound very interesting when I finally managed to get the title right. When I picked it up, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was illustrated by Maurice Sendak, and that the wheel in the book goes on top of the school to attract storks. Storks are definitely more interesting (to me, anyway) than schoolbuses - which are no where to be found in this book, my mind just sticks wheels and buses together because of the preschool song - the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, ad nauseum. Anyway, I found The Wheel on the School a gentle and interesting if not overly exciting read. It reminded me a bit of Roller Skates in this respect - and like Roller Skates, DeJong's story does an excellent job of portraying a community of interesting characters and a time and place that is unfamiliar to most of us.... For kids (and adults) that have the patience for this story - it is a bit long, especially compared to some of the other winners - there is a lot to enjoy. DeJong shows a fine understanding of environmental relationships (and how cool would it be to have storks on your roof?), community and family interactions, and how kids think. I'm glad I read The Wheel on the School, and I wouldn't mind reading some of DeJong's other books - a couple of the others won Newbery Honors, and several more are also illustrated by Sendak." (2)

Suggested Activities


Have children work together in groups of four to six to identify a problem in their own community, then have them do a creative project (like a picture or a diorama) to illustrate what their solution to the problem would be. It can be a real problem with realistic solutions, or totally silly, just as long as they are showing creative and critical thinking.

Other Citations


(1) "Each Time I Read This Book, I Love It More." Rev. of The Wheel on the School. Amazon.com. 7 Sept. 1999. Web. 26 Sept. 2010. <http://www.amazon.com/Wheel-School-Meindert-Dejong/dp/0064400212>.


(2) D., Sandy. "The Wheel on the School." Rev. of The Wheel on the School. Web log post. The Newbery Project. 31 Mar. 2008. Web. 26 Sept. 2010. <http://newberryproject.blogspot.com/2008/03/wheel-on-school_31.html>.

Module 3: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Full Citation


Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print.


Summary


Joseph, a Jewish man living in early 20th century Poland, notices that his overcoat is getting worn, so he uses the material and makes a vest. When the vest gets worn, he takes that and makes a scarf. When that gets worn... find out for yourself!

My Impressions


My first impression when I opened the book was "The book is damaged!" Then I realized it was just part of the story; the overcoat becomes a vest through specially cut holes in the pages. This is just one example of the cleverness that went into this book. If you don't take time to check out the illustrations in this Caldecott winner, you'll be missing half of the fun. Taback adds little details to each page through his drawings as well as some photographs. The story itself, based on an old Yiddish folk song, is simple and memorable for any little kid. It's definitely one to enjoy over and over.


What Other Reviewers Said


As in his Caldecott Honor book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Taback's inventive use of die-cut pages shows off his signature artwork, here newly created for his 1977 adaptation of a Yiddish folk song. This diverting, sequential story unravels as swiftly as the threads of Joseph's well-loved, patch-covered plaid coat. A flip of the page allows children to peek through to subsequent spreads as Joseph's tailoring produces items of decreasing size. The author puts a droll spin on his narrative when Joseph loses the last remnant of the coat button and decides to make a book about it. "Which shows... you can always make something out of nothing," writes Taback, who wryly slips himself into his story by depicting Joseph creating a dummy for the book that readers are holding. Still, it's the bustling mixed-media artwork, highlighted by the strategically placed die-cuts, that steals the show. Taback works into his folk art a menagerie of wide-eyed animals witnessing the overcoat's transformation, miniature photographs superimposed on paintings and some clever asides reproduced in small print (a wall hanging declares, "Better to have an ugly patch than a beautiful hole"; a newspaper headline announces, "Fiddler on Roof Falls off Roof"). With its effective repetition and an abundance of visual humor, this is tailor-made for reading aloud. All ages. (1)


"Joseph had a little overcoat. It was old and worn. So he made a jacket out of it and went to the fair." So begins this adaptation of a Yiddish folk song (a newly illustrated version of a book Taback first did in 1977). The text is simple to the point of prosaicness — nowhere near as inventive and jazzy as the illustrator's riff on There Was an Old lady Who Swallowed a Fly — but the art sings with color and movement and humor and personality. Taback employs die-cuts with the same effectiveness and cleverness as he did in There Was an Old Lady to tell the story of resourceful Joseph, a farmer/tailor of Yehupetz, Poland, who recycles his worn overcoat into ever-smaller elements (jacket, vest, scarf, tie, handkerchief, and button). Taback incorporates detail after detail of Jewish life — the Yiddish newspaper the Morning Freiheit; references to Sholom Aleichem and other writers and philosophers; Yiddish proverbs and Chelm stories — to create a veritable pageant of pre-WWII Jewish-Polish life. (In fact, the book is as much a tribute to a vanished way of life as it is a story, but the tribute only enriches the tale.) Broad comedy plays an important part of the pageant: Joseph looks so unhappy and gets such expressively reproachful looks from his animals when his garments become "old and worn"; in contrast, he is all smiles when, each time, he makes something new out of the old. (The exceptionally clever cover design — which incorporates die-cuts to show first a distressingly full-of-holes and then a jauntily patched overcoat — echoes this satisfying pattern.) Double-page spreads employ a mixture of painting and collage to somewhat surreal but delightful effect, such as the one in which Joseph is standing in a field covered with photographs of fruits and vegetables of every kind, from watermelons to jalapeno peppers. In the end, Joseph loses his button, his last bit of overcoat; left with nothing, he makes one more item — this book. Don't you lose it: clever, visually engrossing, poignant, it's worth holding on to. (2)


Suggested Activities 


Have kids think of their own examples of things old and seemingly worthless that can be used again. They can make a book out of their own drawings or magazine clippings illustrating just how far they can go to make "something out of nothing."

Other Citations


(1) Rev. of "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat." Publisher's Weekly. "Amazon.com: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Caldecott Medal Book) (9780670878550): Simms Taback: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Web. 13 Sept. 2010. <http://tinyurl.com/2a4lj8e>.

(2) Parravano, Martha V. "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat." Horn Book Magazine 76.1 (2000): 68-69. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 12 Sept. 2010.