Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Sign Painter by Allen Say

This is another one of Say's autobiographical books. I like this one because it is about Say himself and he takes on a third person narrative in the he refers to himself as "the young man". It is cool to know things about the author before reading this because this is actually the story of how Allen Say became a painter. I really like that he refers to the teacher as, "the man" instead of using his specific name. This gives the book more of a story-like feel instead of getting technical with specifics. The pictures that he has painted look once again very realistic and take the reader on a trip along with the characters. The book tells how the young boy went on a long road trip with a man to paint murals in the middle of nowhere. They never really know what they are painting but they are getting paid for it. One day, they come upon a huge roller coaster. I love the metaphor that is made when the man says that the clouds are just passing by like him and the boy and the builder who all have big dreams. Then, on the very last page the boy says, "just passing by..." This is a cool way to end the book because it shows the reader that this was just a short random thing that inspired the boy to go on and become an amazing artist.

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