The Big Orange Splot [Paperback]

D. Manus Pinkwater (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

When Mr. Plumbeans' house is splashed with bright orange paint, he decides a multi-colored house would be a nice change. This favorite story of creativity and individuality is back by popular demand. Full color. Reissue.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590445103
• ISBN-13: 978-0590445108
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Literature > Humorous

More About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River Valley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Memorable: A Great Gift!, October 25, 2004

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Orange Splot (Paperback)

We first read this book to our son when he was a toddler, now that he's ten, we still use it as a way to encourage his (and our) appreciation of others' choices. Pinkwater is one of the great storytellers and educator its around, and this book deserves as wide an audience as possible. It's that good. As usual, Pinkwater doesn't spend much time on developing a plausible plot: Things just happen, and, because of his dry matter-of-fact tone, you accept it. One day a seagull with a can of bright orange paint "dropped the can (no one knows why) right over Mr. Plumbean's house." The resulting big orange splot upsets the neighbors, who all live in identical brown housed with gray roofs and green shutters. When they ask him to paint his house (to get rid of the orange splot), Plumbean follows the letter--but not the spirit=-of their request. He paints the house red, yellow, green, and purple. He adds more splots, strikes, and "elephants and lions and pretty girls and steam shovels."

The neighbors are aghast. In a recurring motif, the neighbors exclaim that something must be wrong with their neighbor: "Plumbean has gushed his mush, lost his marbles, and slipped his hawser." Mr. Plumbean resists their pressure, explaining in one of many memorable lines from the book: "My house is me and I am it. My house...looks like all my dreams." One by one, over tall glasses of lemonade, Mr. Plumbean casually talks to the other neighbors, one by one, about their own dreams. The following day, each neighbor expresses those dreams through his or her house.

The book isn't so much about nonconformity as about self-expression, or what Maslow called "self-actualization." That everyone eventually paints their house in wild colors is not so much a new form of conformity, but rather the flowering and unafraid celebration of their individuality, and an acceptance of this in others. Very highly recommended; it may be a book you'll treasure for years to come.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big Orange Splot is my favorite children's book!, January 18, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Orange Splot (Paperback)

The Big Orange Splot is, according to me, the best children's book I have ever read. It shows children (as well as adults) that being yourself is the right thing to be. Creativity is sometimes stifled in this world, and this book shows that it is a wonderful thing to be creative. This book helps the reader to grow as an individual, and to heighten their level of self-esteem.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plumbean's Splot turns a 'neat street' into a 'NEAT STREET!', October 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Orange Splot (Paperback)

Let your dreams become your reality! Make waves! Be who you are, not who everyone thinks you are! Share your dreams and bring joy and a sense of freedom to all who come in contact with you! These are the messages of "The Big Orange Splot", Daniel Pinkwater's utterly, delightlful tale. Mr. Plumbean turns the disaster of the "big orange splot" of paint dropped on his roof by a sea gull into an opportunity to break away from the constraints of conformity. You will smile as you read how his daring actions liberate his whole "neat street". Recommended for children and adults who all need reminding that there is still a child in all of us. I LOVE this BOOK!!!!!!