My Grandfather's Coat

by Jim Aylesworth, Barbara McClintock (Illustrator)

Overview

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 TimesWhen 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!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780439925457
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

Aylesworth's adaptation…reads aloud beautifully…The Yiddish song is clever. In Aylesworth's hands it's also a moving tale of love and regeneration. We might not even know this, though, without McClintock's equally moving illustrations. In an impressive example of text seamlessly handing the storytelling off to the pictures, her carefully watercolored ink drawings take the simple words…and give them whole worlds of meaning…McClintock has drawing skills in spades.

The New York Times Book Review - Paul O. Zelinsky

★ 08/11/2014
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 boy’s 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 mother’s wedding day!” Warmth emanates from this thoughtful book, which deserves to become a multigenerational family favorite. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise and Distinctions for My Grandather's Coat:Sydney Taylor Award WinnerPublisher's Weekly Best Book of the YearA School Library Journal Best Book of the YearNew York Public Library's 100 Best Books for Reading and Sharing"A moving tale of love and regeneration." —The New York Times* "The narrative and illustrations make a perfect whole. Sweet and tender and joyful." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "This is a tale worth reading again and again." — School Library Journal, starred review* "Based on the Yiddish folksong "I Had a Little Overcoat," this splendid tale chronicles four generations. Aylesworth and McClintock perform a lovely pas de deux, from a boy's arrival at Ellis Island to his story being shared with a great-grandson....Warmth emanates from this thoughtful book, which deserves to become a multigenerational family favorite." —Publisher's Weekly, starred review "Well-paced pages, spreads, and vignettes that nicely celebrate one family's ongoing affection and continuity." —The Horn Book"This tale of family, creativity, and resourcefulness is a warm, touching read-aloud." —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 08/01/2014
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

School Library Journal

★ 2014-07-22
An immigrant tailor passes the American dream on to new generations, one stitch at a time. He made a coat for his wedding and wore it for years until it was ragged and torn, at which point he cut it down to make a jacket. The pattern continues, with each item becoming smaller. The jacket became a vest, then a tie, then a toy for a great-grandchild. The worn-out toy provides a nest for a mouse until that also disintegrates into nothing. But, of course there's more to it, for it is now a wonderful story. Aylesworth takes an old Yiddish folk song and tale and, just like the tailor, brings it to fresh, new life. Two sprightly snatches of singsong repetition accompany the deterioration of each of the garments and the stitching of the new one. "He wore it, and he wore it.…[H]e frayed it, and he tore it" is followed by "he snipped, and he clipped, and he stitched, and he sewed." Each incarnation comes after years of hard work and rites of passage, only a few of which are stated in the text. McClintock's depictions of the tailor through his lifetime, rendered in pen, ink and watercolor, are detailed evocations of a warm, loving family. The narrative and illustrations make a perfect whole. Sweet and tender and joyful. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews