Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Taback, Simms. JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999.

ISBN 0-439-21697-4

Plot

The book is based on a Yiddish folk song: I had a Little Overcoat. The story tells of Joseph and his ability to make something useful out of something old and worn. He transforms his coat into a jacket, vest, scarf, necktie, handkerchief and finally a button. It is then that he looses the button and when Joseph finally has nothing else to transform, he writes down the journey of his coat.

Critical analysis

In addition to the die cut technique, Simms Taback uses watercolor, Gouache, pencil, ink and collage to illustrate the book. Each page is filled with vibrant colors and is a feast to the observant eye. Using the illustrations, students may be able to conclude Joseph's trade, hobbies, his marital status and his religion. The book's die cuts provide great clues to the beginning reader as they try to figure how the coat will be transformed next. The beginning reader will also enjoy the repeated story pattern. My three year old daughter was able to joyfully complete my sentence as I flipped through the pages.

I could find no weakness in this Caldecott winner. Quite the contrary, I found the book inviting and appreciated Taback's attention given to detail on each page. The numerous miniature pictures, the intricate design on the sugar bowl, the pattern on the rug are all a true work of art.

Connections

I was delighted to see that my students noticed the menorah in Joseph's home. Thus, they concluded he was Jewish. While none of my students are Jewish, I had exposed them to Something From Nothing by Phoebe Gillman and they gained a bits and pieces of the Jewish faith. Students would enjoy comparing and contrasting the two stories. My daughter also enjoyed chiming in when the repetitive portion of the story would come up. She joyfully ended the sentences for me. I was so delighted with the artwork and the beautiful simplicity of the story that I added Joseph had a Little Overcoat to our home collection trusting it will be read and re-read numerous times.

Review excerpt from Booklist:

"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 Giver

Lowry, Lois. 1993. THE GIVER. Read by Ron Rifkin. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing. 4 cassettes. ISBN 0-553-47359-X

PLOT SUMMARY

This 1994 Newbery winner is set in a utopia where precise language is valued. Jonas lives in a world with perfect weather, well behaved children, model parents, no crime or death. In this futuristic world, children cease to be children at the age of twelve. At that time they are assigned their life profession. Jonas becomes the community’s new Receiver and receives the memories of the past from the Giver. It is as the Receiver that Jonas slowly becomes aware. Aware that animals once lived, that color is a reality and that choices do exist. Jonas must choose to continue the life he has always known, or venture to the unknown and seek the world that has not just the good things in life, but also the heartbreaks and the wonder of choices.

ANALYSIS

I listened to the unabridged audio version of The Giver read by Ron Rifkin on 4 cassettes.
Ron Rifkin is given a very brief introduction and at the end of the book we are again told that Ron Rifkin was the reader.
The actor's professionalism is apparent as his enunciation of each word is superb. Rifkin 's voice seemed to command authority, yet delicately varied his tone and pitch when reading the parts of Jona’s younger sister.
Music was played throughout the book. I appreciated that the music did not play only at the end of a chapter, but also when changes in topic or scenery occurred within the chapters.
Perhaps because I am a fast reader, I found the reading to be very slow. I would often read ahead of Ron. Now I know how my kiddos feel when I read slowly to them during class!
While the characters, plot, style and theme in this story are important, I feel that the setting is of utmost importance. One does not instantly understand this is a futuristic tale, yet we quickly understand that the world described here is not like ours. As we read we discover this and that makes this book very difficult to put down!

For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final
decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure.

Lowry presents the reader with some heavy moral questions: How important is the power of choice? What to do with our elderly population? How does our profession define us? Is a world different from our a possibility? The genius of this book, is that students are enthralled in the plot! Lowry allows the reader to reach his own conclusions instead of her dictating that through the climax of the story.

Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he
had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving.
But if he had stayed... His thoughts continued. If he had
stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life
hungry for feelings, for color, for love.

As the story was coming to a climax, I have to admit that the ending disappointed me. When I heard Ron Rifkin stating the last sentence, I felt as if Lowry's thoughts dangled. Even after reading the ending to myself several times, it didn't sound as if we were coming to the end of the book. Perhaps that is exactly what Lowry had intended: the feel that the story is to continue, but it felt unfinished for me.

Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left,
he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.

REVIEWS

This is a compelling prospect for family listening. Initially Rifkin's voice seems too regional to portray the characters of this utopian/dystopian world, but he convincingly conveys the anticipation of the coming-of-age ceremony of Jonas and his friends.- From AudioFile

With a storyline that hints at Christian allegory and an eerie futuristic setting, this intriguing novel calls to mind John Christopher's Tripods trilogy and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Lowry is once again in top form--raising many questions while answering few, and unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers.” From Publishers Weekly

The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time.” -From School Library Journal

CONNECTIONS

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry is seen as a companion book to The Giver. While it is not a continuation of the story it is also set in the future. Comparing and contrasting the plots and the main characters of each book would be a fantastic activity.

Other titles by Lois Lowry include A Summer to Die, Number the Stars, Messenger, Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye, and The Silent Boy to name a few. For the slightly younger crowd Lois Lowry has a series of books about a precocious pre-teen named Anastasia.

Holes

Sachar, Louis. 1998. HOLES. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0-439-224419-6

Plot Summary
Stanley Yelnats is cursed thanks to his no good rotten pig stealing great, great grandfather – or so states Stanley’s father. Stanley is an overweight, shy kid that always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He happens to be at the wrong place when pair of sneakers fall from the sky and into his hands. Shortly thereafter, Stanley is arrested for theft. Given the choice of jail or camp, Stanley chooses camp. Through a series of flashbacks we learn of the curse that befell the Yelnat family and ultimately, as the pages unfold, discover how Stanley plays a major role in the breaking of the curse.
Analysis
In this 1999 Newbery winner, Sachar provides an attention-getter from the beginning.

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There was once was a very large lake
here, the largest lake in Texas.

Thus begins our quest as readers - and detectives – to figure out what happened to such a large lake. As the story unravels and pieces of history and characters are discovered allowing students to make the connections, they become glued to this book! The town of Greenlake, Texas does not exist, yet we can easily believe it once did.

Holes provides authentic characters: teenage boys and their interactions with each other. They don’t show their feelings, make fun of each other and strive to show their tough side. Just about every student can identify with one of the characters.

Sachar also touches a sensitive issue: foster care. Zero was in foster care for a time and it was not very pretty. Zero slowly reveals his story to Stanley and to us. He recounts how his mother left one day and never came back. Some of my students have lived through that exact situation.

"We always took what we needed." Zero said. "When I was little, I didn't even know it was stealing. I don't remember when I found out. But we just took what we needed, never more."

I was weepy as I read the Zero's recount, perhaps because I knew two of my students that were reading this along with me have experienced abandonment and the foster care system. I have seen these two “tough” boys carry around the book - like toddlers carry their blankies around for comfort during the day. It’s amazing.
A great talent of Sachar is cliff hanging - chapter cliff hanging that is. Every chapter ending leaves you wanting to read more! Read a couple example of final chapter sentences:

No one ever says 'No' to Charles Walker!
"I believe I just did," said Katherine Barlow.

“Where’d you bury it?” Trout demanded. Kate Barlow died laughing.

Stanley could hear his heart beat. Each beat told him he was still alive,
at least for one more second.

I loved how Sachar did not preach injustice, but rather allowed the readers to formulate their own ideas. Granted, Sachar hinted at who the guilty party was…

That all happened one hundred and ten years ago. Since then, not one drop
of rain has fallen on Green Lake. You make the decision: Whom did God punish?

My students immediately took to the book, since a great many of them had never read a chapter book. The first few chapters of Holes are short. My students felt a sense of accomplishment with each chapter we covered. This book quickly became one of their favorites. I, too, consider this a gem.


Reviews
The author's ability to knit Stanley and Zero's compelling story in and out of a history of intriguing ancestors is captivating. Stanley's wit, integrity, faith, and wistful innocence will charm readers. A multitude of colorful characters coupled with the skillful braiding of ethnic folklore, American legend, and contemporary issues is a brilliant achievement. There is no question, kids will love Holes.”- From School Library Journal

Sachar's earlier Wayside School stories always had a Pinkwaterish edge to them, but in Holes he comes fully, brilliantly into his own voice. This is a can't-put-it-down read.” -From Children’s Literature

Imaginative plotting and memorable characters make this novel a winner.” - From Book Magazine

Connections
Bud, Not Buddy written by Christopher Paul Curtis, deals with an orphan that in the midst of hardship, but able to make the best of a bad situation.

This is a book I have used as the "attention getter" at the beginning of my Reader's Club after school. After completing the book, we publicized it by making poster and PowerPoint presentations that encouraged students to pick up the book and read it. We also dedicated an entire wall to the depiction of Camp Green Lake. It was fantastic!

Dad, Jackie and Me

Uhlberg, Myron. 2005. Illustrated by Colin Bootman. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers. ISBN 3-1551-07231-8368.

Plot SummaryA young baseball fan and his deaf father share in the excitement of having Jackie Robinson play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Each have different reasons for following Robinson's season, and learn from each other as that amazing baseball season comes to a close.

Analysis
The story opens as a young boy, glove and baseball next to him, sits glued to the family radio. It is Opening Day, 1947 and the Brooklyn Dodgers had Jackie Robinson! We immediately take notice of the watercolor illustrations that are framed within each page. The detail given to the time period is nostalgically wonderful: radios on window sills, the rolled up jeans on boys, the majestic Ebbets Field on the following pages, and the Chevy’s that drive by.

It is not until the fifth page we discover the boy’s father is deaf,
“He walked into my bedroom and announced, ‘We’re going to Ebbets Field.’ He didn’t say is out loud. My father was deaf, so he signed the words with his hands.”
Even though the boy’s father never really cared for baseball, he demonstrated a great deal of interest now. The two practiced throwing and catching and even though the father did his best, he just was not good at it. In an Author’s Note we understand why that may have been:

"As a boy in 1910, he attended a deaf residential school, where playing sports was not encouraged. In those days most people considered deaf children severely handicapped and thought teaching them sports was a waste of time."
In this same Author’s Note we also understand why the boy’s father took such an interest in Jackie Robinson:
“Just you watch, Jackie will show them that his skin color has nothing to do with how he plays baseball. He will show them all that he is as good as they are.”
The boys father had also experienced prejudice because of his deafness. He also had to prove that he could be just as good as everyone else. It is these notes that validate the accuracy of the story.

While the boy’s father does possess a disability, the author portrays the father just as any other father: catching baseballs, working on a scrapbook with his son, attending baseball games. We see a father interacting with his son, not a deaf father interacting with his son.

Myron Ulberg writes a story worthy of reading that carries an informative and sensitive message. His writing is nothing less than poetic,
"I shut my eyes against the glare. When I opened them again, my breath is caught in my throat. I had never seen anything so perfect as the inside of Ebbets Field. There, laid out at my feet, was the emerald green field, each blade of grass reflecting the light from the afternoon sun."
We are made to feel in the stands right along with him!

The author also does not sugarcoat the reality of being the son of a deaf person. We empathize with the son as he feels embarrassed during a game. His father, filled with excitement as Jackie takes the field, begins to shout , “Jackiee, Jackiee, Jackiee!” However, it didn’t come out like that but sounded more like, “AH-GEE, AH-GHEE, AH-GEE! "
“Since my dad couldn’t hear, he had no way of knowing what the words should sound like. Everyone looked at my dad. I looked at my shoes.”
The bond between father and son helps foster acceptance. Later in the book we read of the time a Cardinal player spikes Jackie’s leg on purpose. Everyone is stunned silent.
"In that awful silence, my father jumped to his feet. NOOOOOOOO!’ he screamed. ‘NOT FAIR! AH-GEE, AH-GEE, AH-GEE!" It’s at that point that the crowd goes nuts, joining the boy’s father and chanting Jackie’s name.

The realistic illustrations and the heart-felt story moved me and I was brought to tears. While this story is fictional, it was based on truth. The story will be devoured by Jackie Robinson fans, Brooklyn fans, or plain baseball fans. This is book that should not be missed.

Review Excerpts
" Uhlberg's moving text and Bootman's realistic, period watercolors introduce the narrator, an avid young baseball player and fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers."-From Publisher's Weekly

"Bootman's lovely watercolor paintings add detail and wistful nostalgia. Baseball fans may be disappointed with the narrative's slow pace and the fact that Robinson is little more than an iconic figure, but others will appreciate the story's insightful treatment of deafness as viewed through the eyes of a child."-From School Library Journal

Connections
Other titles dealing with Jackie Robinson
For upper elementary:
Just Like Josh Gibson by Angela Johnson
Promises To Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson
For lower elementary:
A Picture Book of Jackie Robinson (Picture Biography Book)
by David A. Adler and Robert Casilla
Jackie's Bat by Marybeth Lorbiecki and Brian Pinkney
Books dealing with deaf parents
Singing Hands by Delia Ray