Caldecott Medal Contender: My Grandfather’s Coat

by Sam Juliano

A deep elegiac undercurrent propels My Grandfather’s Coat, a story about an item of clothing that recycles itself over four generations.  The text is based on the enchanting Yiddish folk song “I Had a Little Overcoat” from which Simms Taback’s Caldecott Medal winning Joseph Had a Little Overcoat was also adapted, and which according to author and veteran first-grade teacher Jim Aylesworth, originated from Eastern Europe.  Clothing has been a popular subject for children’s books, with Margaret Chodoes-Irvine’s Ella Sarah Gets Dressed and Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Extra Yarn,  both of which won Caldecott Honors, but outstanding books by Dr. Seuss, Oliver Jeffers, Tomie DePaola, and of coarse Taback have expounded on the theme to the delight of children everywhere.  Like all truly memorable picture books My Grandfather’s Coat sports a captivating cover.  The book’s renowned illustrator, Barbara McClintock, evokes the great Patricia Schart Hyman with her exquisite line framing and ornate borders.  The titular character is shown in celebratory mode as his ship docks at Ellis Island, the arrival point for immigrants planning on a new life in America.  The borders feature colorful spools of yarn, buttons and knitting needles, items that play a vital role in this inspiring take of preservation, hard work and familial bonding.  On the back panel is a charming recipe for “Grandfather’s Coat Cookies” that includes the five stages of regeneration depicted in the narrative.

 

The story begins on ever familiar terms.  The young man who becomes the grandfather disembarks with two small bags, wasting no time to ply his trade as a tailor, and finding the right woman.  With arduous commitment that would even impress the tireless Erik Borg from television’s Thriller episode “The Weird Tailor” the grandfather-in-the-making makes himself a most splendid coat which he wears on his wedding day.  The coat was worn in every capacity, but the farming, snow shoveling and and log splitting among other activities frays and wears it out.  He realizes the cloth is still perfect, so he works to transform the tattered material into a smart jacket.  Again he wears it each and every day until it too becomes worn.  Still the material is good enough to conduct another alteration, this time into a “snazzy” vest.  Old habits die hard, and the same situation is reached when the vest becomes too worn down to use.  It is turned into a stylish tie that is worn most proudly on his daughter’s wedding day and at the bedside of the his new grandson.  The tie eventually goes the way of its recycled predecessors, and is tailored into a toy for the young boy and his kittens.  The toy is enjoyed, but eventually crumbles into a small heap of material.  During the night a mouse pulled the tattered cloth and used it to nest her children.  Then even the nest slowly disappears and there is nothing at all left.  In wonderful sing-song rhyme, Aylesworth sums it all up:

No, nothing left of the cozy nest,

and nothing left of the kitten’s toy,

and nothing left of the stylish tie,

and nothing left of the snazzy vest,

and nothing left of the smart jacket,

and nothing left of all your great-grandfather’s handsome coat – 

no, there was nothing left at all.

Nothing that is, except for this story.

McClintock’s warm and moving vignettes -rendered in watercolor ink yield a homespun quality, and document the cycle of life intimately and with the nostalgic force of a family album.  All of life’s most cherished events, and the various interactions between parents, grandparents and children are evoked passionately and are steeped in familial bliss.  There are some marvelous set pieces.  The Jewish wedding of the narrator’s mother is magnificently visualized in a scene of pink flowers, yamakas, white temple canopy and paneled stain glass windows.   (McClintock identifies the Jewish origins sparingly throughout, no doubt to emphasize this is a story of emigration and taking up roots, which in effect echoes the experiences of all nationalities who came over to America).  Indeed the full page photo of the grandfather’s wedding is lovingly evoked in quiet simplicity, and the title page -an overhead illustration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty- is a striking geographical reminder of where the American dream all began.  Most of McClintock’s art is is negotiated in painstaking miniature; emotionally resonant and beautifully in tune with Aylesworth’s acute use of the clothing metaphor that serves to define a touching remembrance of growing up, choosing a profession, having a family and getting old.  One gets the feeling while reading through it that Thornton Wilder is smiling down approvingly at the small scale trappings.  The story emphasizes that nothing lasts in a material sense, but that love and unconditional commitment are the things in life that matter most, indeed the most lasting.

The chemistry between Aylesworth’s sonorous verse and McClintock’s evocative art is astonishing.  The craftsmanship of the book is first-rate, and both author and illustrator offer up engaging anecdotes in a final page afterward attesting to their own ancestral and emigration roots.  There have been a good number of books based on this subject – Grandfather’s Journey, Peppe the Lamplighter, The Matchbox Diary immediately come to mind, but certainly in spirit, aesthetic beauty and kid-friendly appeal My Grandfather’s Coat stands tall with every one of them, a book that would do the Caldecott Medal very proud.

Note:  This is the fifteenth entry in the 2014 Caldecott Medal Contender series.  The series does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running.  In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration.  It is anticipated the series will include at least 30 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender.  Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end.  The awards will be announced on February 2nd, hence the reviews will continue to the end of January.