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Summary
Summary
A rollicking, rhyming, fun rendition of a favorite folksong about a many-times recycled coat -- by the award-winning, bestselling team of Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock. Sydney Taylor Award Winner"A moving tale of love and regeneration." -- The New York Times When my grandfather came to America he made himself a handsome coat!Then he wore it and he wore it and he wore it--until it was all worn out!So what did he do? He snipped and he clipped-- and he stitched and he sewed. . . and out of the still-good cloth of his coat--he made himself a smart jacket! How many things can Grandfather makeout of that old frayed coat? Jim Aylesworth's satisfying retelling and Barbara McClintock's heart-warming pictures celebrate the clever recycling of a beloved coat that lasts four generations -- until it becomes this story!
Author Notes
Barbara McClintock has written and/or illustrated over 40 distinguished books for children. Emma and Julia Love Ballet which she wrote and illustrated, received three starred reviews, and My Grandfather's Coat , retold by Jim Aylesworth, also received three starred reviews and was named a Sydney Taylor Honor Book. Her books have five times been named New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books. She has received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, as well as a myriad of other awards and honors. Barbara lives in Connecticut with her family and their four very graceful cats.
Jim Aylesworth tells his stories with generous doses of "out loud" sounds, rhythms, and rhymes. His twenty-five-year teaching career taught him exactly what children love best in a story. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This new adaptation of the Yiddish folk song presented in Simms Taback's Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Viking, 1999) and Phoebe Gilman's Something from Nothing (Scholastic, 1992) is a fresh rhythmic retelling with charming cartoon-style illustrations that deserves a place even in collections that own the other two. Aylesworth's story, told in the voice of the main character's granddaughter, recounts highlights of her grandfather's life: coming to America, becoming a tailor, and making himself "a handsome coat...that he wore on his wedding day!" The worn coat becomes "a smart jacket"; the shabby jacket, "a snazzy vest"; the frayed vest, "a stylish tie." In this version, the threadbare tie is transformed into a toy for a great grandson's kittens, then a cozy nest for a mouse and her babies. As in both older versions, this one features repetition and a rhyming refrain. McClintock's pen-and-ink detailed watercolor illustrations highlight four generations of family history. Following the title-page scene that shows ships streaming toward Ellis Island, then a photolike pose of grandfather as a boy on deck passing the Statue of Liberty, the story unfolds in two-to-three small vignettes per page, each accompanied by a snippet of text, with a full-page scene at each major juncture. The paintings highlight McClintock's special skill for aging grandpa. Her eye for detail is apparent in ever-changing clothing styles; in a sole coming loose from young grandpa's shoe; and the evolution of his sewing machines from treadle to modern motorized. This is a tale worth reading again and again.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Starred Review. Based on the Yiddish folksong I Had a Little Overcoat, this splendid tale chronicles four generations. Aylesworth and McClintock (who collaborated on Our Abe Lincoln) perform a lovely pas de deux, from a boys arrival at Ellis Island (He came alone and with little more than nothing at all) to his story being shared with a great-grandson. In America, the young man becomes a tailor and, for his wedding, He snipped, and he clipped, and he stitched, and he sewed, and he made for himself a handsome coat. The midnight-blue, knee-length coat serves him for years, until at last.../ he wore it out! In meticulous panels, McClintock pictures the man and his wife working and caring for a daughter, who grows up to have a daughter of her own, and so on. Aylesworth repeats the snipping-and-clipping, stitching-and-sewing formula, with the grandfather altering his coat into a smart jacket, a snazzy vest, and finally a stylish tie that he wore on my mothers wedding day! Warmth emanates from this thoughtful book, which deserves to become a multigenerational family favorite. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
This moving immigration story begins with the narrator's grandfather arriving in New York City and diligently working as a tailor. For his wedding day, he makes himself a long coat, which he wears all the time, and little bit by little bit, / he frayed it and he tore it. But all is not lost, for the resourceful tailor snips and sews and turns the fine coat into a jacket. The jacket becomes a vest, the vest becomes a tie, and the tie makes it through the years until the grandfather becomes a great-grandfather and gives his great-grandson a stuffed mouse out of the last fabric remnants. And what happens when the fabric is all gone forever? Well, it lives on in this very story. McClintock's warm, realistic watercolor-and-ink illustrations follow the family through the years and capture lively period details that mark the passage of time. Based on a familiar Yiddish folk song and enlivened by a light tone, this tale of family, creativity, and resourcefulness is a warm, touching read-aloud.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist