Joseph Had a Little Coat

 

Author/ Illustrator:  Simms Taback                                                     

www.simmstaback.com/

About the Author:

Simms Taback was born in New York City in 1932.  In 1953 Simms graduated from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art.  He has worked as an illustrator, writer, art director and graphic designer, and has taught at the School of Visual Arts and Syracuse University.  He also was the illustrator for the first McDonald's happy meal.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level:  1-4

Synopsis:

This is a story about a man who had a coat and then it got old and worn, so he turned it into something different out of the same material.  Every time the new thing he made got old and worn, he turned it into something different, every time he did this the new thing got smaller and smaller.

Pre Reading Activity:

Questions:

Have you ever had a pair of pants that your mom or dad cut to make shorts?  Have you ever cut a piece of paper into a smaller one? Have you ever had a cake and cut it into pieces and ate it all?

Activity:

Have the class make a list of things that can be made from a coat using only the material of the coat.

Post Reading Activity:

Questions:

What are some of the things he made from his coat? Why did he keep making something?  What was the last thing he made? 

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students take a piece of paper and make something with it, after the first thing is made, cut the paper smaller and make something new, when there isn’t anything left to make, write a story about what was made, how it was made and why chose to make it. 

Reflection:

I think this story is a beautiful story about making the best out of what you have.  We often are not happy with the things we have and are always wanting more, this story shows children using your imagination and skills can bring new things to something old and worn.  It also shows children if you end up with nothing, you can always make something out of nothing.  Every time the new thing got old and worn, he made something different, until he ended up with nothing.  But when he ended up with no material left, he wrote a book about it.