The Man in the Ceiling [Hardcover]

Jules Feiffer (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 1993 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

He's bad at sports and not much better at school, but Jimmy sure can draw terrific cartoons. And his dream'like that of his Uncle Lester, who writes flop Broadway musicals'is to be recognized for what he loves doing most.

1993 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)
1993 Choices: The Year's Best Books (Publishers Weekly)
Children's Books of 1993 (Library of Congress)
1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1993 (NY Public Library)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ages 8 & up. The first children's book both written and illustrated by cartoonist Feiffer is a funny, poignant and profoundly insightful look at the inner life of an artist, who also happens to be a young boy. Jimmy Jibbett loves drawing cartoons and hopes to be great some day--but first he must cope with a lack of privacy, a father who wishes he liked sports instead of drawing, a popular older boy who pressures him to sell out and his own urge to give up when he's failing. Just when Jimmy's starting to think that he's "doomed to be as much a flop as a cartoonist as he was as a boy," he finds a way to look at failure in a new light. In a starred review, Booklist called it "wickedly funny... reminiscent of Roald Dahl's edgy lampoons." In another starred review, Publishers Weekly declared it "one of the best books of the year." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Feiffer--the noted cartoonist and playwright, and the illustrator of The Phantom Tollbooth --makes his debut as a children's author with a witty story that combines a comfortably oldfangled tone with up-to-the-minute characterizations and a playful use of graphics. Jimmy daydreams through classes and bungles the plays on the school ballfield; at home, he wishes his father would pay more attention to him, and he dodges his tantrum-prone older sister and his equally troublesome if adoring younger sister. All the while he devotes himself to making comic books, inventing superheroes and casting them in adventures. Then Charley Beemer, a prodigally popular older boy, starts supplying Jimmy with ideas, commissioning him to do a series that Jimmy finds revolting and that points up Jimmy's fatal flaw--his inability to draw hands. Expressive pen-and-ink illustrations of gangly figures and playfully ingenuous "examples" of Jimmy's comics enhance the ripe comedy at the same time that they underscore the intensity of Jimmy's feelings. Conveyed with such verve, Feiffer's age-old message about following one's own vision seems almost brand-new. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (November 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062050354
• ISBN-13: 978-0062050359
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,804,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jules Feiffer lives in New York City with his wife, Jenny. Along with being a famed cartoonist, Feiffer is also the author of numerous novels, children's books, plays and screenplays, including Carnal Knowledge, Harry, The Rat with Women and Little Murders, which was made into a celebrated movie.