Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

"Joseph Had a Little Overcoat," is the story of a resourceful and resilient tailor who transforms his worn-out overcoat into smaller and smaller garments. The book is illustrated in watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, and collage.

"Vibrant rich colors, playful details, and skillfully-placed die cuts contribute to the book's raucous merriment that takes this Yiddish folk song far beyond the simple words," said Barbara Z. Kiefer, chair of the Caldecott Award Selection Committee. "The patchwork layout of the pages, the two-dimensional paintings and the exaggerated perspectives, reminiscent of the folk art tradition, are the very fabric that turn this overcoat into a story."