The Signmaker's Assistant

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.

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.