A Sign - Hardcover

Lyon, George Ella; Soentpiet, Chris K.

4.09

11 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531300730 ISBN 13: 9780531300732

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1998

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From the illustrator of More Than Anything Else, an autobiographical picture book traces an author's childhood journey, highlighting the important moments in her life that influenced her maturation and destiny as a writer.

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From Publishers Weekly:

Lyon's (Dream Place) lyrical, autobiographical poem and Soentpiet's (Peacebound Trains) glowing paintings unfold quietly, articulating with deft simplicity the complex relationship between an artist's childhood dreams and adult achievements. Using three extended metaphors, Lyon tells of her childhood ambitions?first, to be a maker of neon signs like her neighbor, "each letter buzzing, beautiful," then to be a tight-rope walker who can "work the silver line./ So high/ so strong/ each step/ her life/ in the balance," and finally to be an astronaut who blasts off "writing a road to the stars." Though the choice of the cover painting is a bit uninspired, Soentpiet's interior watercolors are splendid recreations of small town scenes in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as dazzling circus lights and the black-and-white view via a television screen of Alan Shepherd's launch into space. The book initially appears to be simply a nostalgic look back, until Lyons expands on her three childhood aspirations and, with great simplicity, shows readers how elements of each have influenced her as a writer. Both Soentpiet's shimmering depiction of flickering stars in the vast rosy darkness and Lyon's musical poem glow with beauty and a hopeful message for readers that dreams really can come true. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

0-531-33073-7 Lyon (Counting on the Woods, p. 115, etc.) writes of all the things she wanted to do or to be when she was a child, attempting to bring those youthful ambitions together to account for the career she ultimately chose. The miraculous colors and curves of neon signs, the old- fashioned thrill of tightrope-walking, and the modern marvel of space exploration are all part of Lyon's childhood dreams: to make the signs, walk the line, and ride a rocket to the moon. Soentpiet's illustrations of young George Ella are laden with nostalgic scenes from America 40 years ago. The setting leaps precipitously forward to an illustration that is startling in its frank modernity after the more tender evocations of the past: Lyon in the present, staring out at readers from her computer, where she tries ``to make words glow,'' to ``put one word in front of the other,'' and ``hope the story won't fall,'' etc. These comparisons between the art of writing and those long-ago wishes may be patently linked for her, but are more tenuous for readers. Those who love Lyon's books will have a too-brief glimpse of her childhood; those seeking a lesson about finding one's purpose will find that and nothing more. (Picture book/memoir. 5-9) -- Copyright �1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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