The Signmaker's Assistant - Hardcover

Arnold, Tedd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803710119 ISBN 13: 9780803710115

Publisher: Dial, 1992

Synopsis

Dreaming of owning his own shop, Norman, the signmaker's assistant, creates a variety of mischievous signs as a practical joke, but when the joke backfires and the old signmaker is blamed, Norman begins to discover the importance of honesty.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Arnold brings the mischieveous quality of the sorcerer's apprentice to small-town America. Norman works as the old signmaker's assistant--cleaning brushes, mixing colors, and painting simple signs--while he dreams of having a shop of his own. As he watches people obey all the signs, he wonders what would happen if he painted some of his own. With the master away, Norman gets creative with such signs as ``Eat your hat,'' ``No school today,'' ``Buy Norman a present.'' The boy enjoys the confusion and laughs until the angry townspeople tear down all of his work, resulting in crashing cars, lost firemen, and his boss being run out of town. A contrite Norman paints all night long to restore order and clean up the mess. Arnold paints humorous pictures of the clever lad and the chaos he causes. This is well suited for reading aloud, with clear watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations and easy flowing text boxed on a white background alternating with full-page paintings. The silly signs and situations will appeal to children's sense of fun, and they will enjoy discovering the consequences of Norman's imaginative brush work. --Mary Rinato Berman, New York Public Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

When young Norman, assistant to the town's respected signmaker, paints a few unorthodox signs of his own, he generates hilarious havoc in this larky picture book. For this lad's handiwork--unlike his mentor's, which conveys such sensible information as where to eat and when to stop--mischievously proclaims "No school today," "Stop, ants crossing" and "Buy Norman a present." And the townsfolk, accustomed to obeying signs dutifully, follow instructions. The author/illustrator of No Jumping on the Bed! and Ollie Forgot here presents an escapade certain to tickle funnybones: What child could resist the sight of grown-ups blithely obeying a "Knock Heads" sign, or cars following a detour marker through a house , of all places? In Arnold's exuberant artwork--perhaps his finest to date--William Joyce meets Richard Egielski with scintillating results. Both the frenetic commotion and the urban calm before and after the storm are expressively depicted in luminous, crisply outlined colors. The signmaker's work itself is smartly designed; indeed, style and verve mark the entire enterprise. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803710119
• ISBN 13: 9780803710115
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32