Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 01/01/2000 Pre-Gr 3-A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit. When Joseph's overcoat becomes old and worn, he snips off the patches and turns it into a jacket. When his jacket is beyond repair, he makes a vest. Joseph recycles his garments until he has nothing left. But by trading in his scissors for a pen and paintbrush he creates a story, showing you can always make something out of nothing. Clever die-cut holes provide clues as to what Joseph will make next: windowpanes in one scene become a scarf upon turning the page. Striking gouache, watercolor, and collage illustrations are chock-full of witty details-letters to read, proverbs on the walls, even a fiddler on the roof. Taback adapted this tale from a Yiddish folk song and the music and English lyrics are appended. The rhythm and repetition make it a perfect storytime read-aloud.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. - Copyright 2000 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2000 Taback has reillustrated his 1977 version of a well-known and popular Yiddish folk song. While the image of Joseph himself will be familiar to readers of the earlier title, the artist has enhanced his original concept in mixed-media illustrations (watercolor, pencil, gouache, ink, and collage) that include saturated colors, busy patterns, and the same die-cut technique used in his previous book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (BCCB 3/98). The sometimes overcrowded compositions teem with inside humor and subtle commentary on all things Yiddish: samplers feature theme-related proverbs, the lead story on the front page of a discarded newspaper reads “Rabbi from Chelm Visits Kazrilevke,” a card from Joseph’s sister reads “Zayn Gezundt,” and photos of famous Jews (Sigmund Freud, Sholom Aleichem) hang on the walls. Musical notation and English lyrics for “I Had a Little Overcoat” (Hob Ich Mir a Mantl ) are included, as is an author’s note linking the story’s moral (“making something out of nothing”) to his being able to redo the pictures for this popular title. Adults fond of the 1977 version or of Phoebe Gilman’s adaptation Something from Nothing (BCCB 2/94) will appreciate this visually clever revision. The simple, cumulative text lends itself to group sharing, and now, thanks to Taback’s re-imaging, so do the pictures. - Copyright 2000 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 01/01/2000 This newly illustrated version of a book Taback first published in 1977 is a true example of accomplished bookmaking--from the typography and the endpapers to the bar code, set in what appears to be a patch of fabric. 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 simple text, which was adapted from the Yiddish song I Had a Little Overcoat, begins as Joseph makes a jacket from his old, worn coat. When the jacket wears out, Joseph makes a vest, and so on, until he has only enough to cover a button. Cut outs emphasize the use and reuse of the material and add to the general sense of fun. When Joseph loses, he writes a story about it all, bringing children to the moral You can always make something out of nothing. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 2000) - Copyright 2000 Booklist.