From Booklist
Gr. 5-up. "Are you lost, son?" "Yes . . . I mean, no. I need a job." The words are minimal in this picture book for older readers. An Asian American youth gets a job as a sign painter. He wants to be an artist and paint landscapes, but he's being paid to paint a poster girl on a dozen blank billboards scattered through the desert. Then there's a raging dust storm, and the model from the picture sweeps past in her car and doesn't come back. In a tribute to many modern artists, including Hopper, Warhol, and Magritte, Say shows and tells how their pictures make you feel and how the surreal is part of a young man's search for himself. In fact, the story expresses the wildness in ordinary life, both precise and mysterious, where the blonde on a billboard suddenly sweeps past you, and the all-night diner down the street is as desolate as you feel. Older readers who know the famous pictures will enjoy Say's homage to the masters, even as they are moved by the young man's conflict: Should he stay safe and earn his wages? Or should he follow his dreams? Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Allen Say was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1937. He dreamed of becoming a cartoonist from the age of six, and, at age twelve, apprenticed himself to his favorite cartoonist, Noro Shinpei. For the next four years, Say learned to draw and paint under the direction of Noro, who has remained Say's mentor. Say illustrated his first children's book -- published in 1972 -- in a photo studio between shooting assignments. For years, Say continued writing and illustrating children's books on a part-time basis. But in 1987, while illustrating THE BOY OF THE THREE-YEAR NAP (Caldecott Honor Medal), he recaptured the joy he had known as a boy working in his master's studio. It was then that Say decided to make a full commitment to doing what he loves best: writing and illustrating children's books. Since then, he has written and illustrated many books, including TREE OF CRANES and GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal. He is a full-time writer and illustrator living in Portland, Oregon.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review
"Like a cinematographer, Say, in perhaps his best work to date, pays tribute to a bygone era with a brief slice-of-life story about a boy’s encounter with a sing painter. . . . . Say subtly and ingeniously blends a feeling of nostalgia with a hard-hitting immediacy. . . . The images and the boy’s passion as an artist will remain with [readers]." —Publishers Weekly, starred review Publishers Weekly, Starred
"Studying say’s technique could inspire any aspiring painter." —Horn Book (9-10/00) Horn Book
"In a tribute to many modern artists, includijng Hopper, Warhol, and Magritte, Say shows and tells how their pictures make you feel and how the surreal is part of a young man's search for himself." —Booklist (19/01/00 Booklist, ALA
Kirkus Reviews (9/15/00) Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal (9/00) School Library Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
![The Sign Painter by [Allen Say]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FjvcAIYvL._SX260_.jpg)
