Joseph had a Little Overcoat

This is a very cute book by Simms Taback. It is a Caldecott Medal winner. It tells the story of an overcoat that Joseph has. It gets old and worn, so he turns it into a jacket, then a vest, then a scarf, and so on. What is cute about the book is it has cut-outs in the pages the shape of what Joseph is making next, so children can guess before they read about it. I also think the book teaches a good lesson on reusing what you have and not throwing something away the second it gets a little worn. It seems like that has become an unspoken rule in our society--we always want the biggest and best thing available and continue to buy buy buy instead of using what we already have. Joseph had a Little Overcoat is an excellent book to help teach children to be thankful for what they have.