The Big Orange Splot facts for kids
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| Author | Daniel Manus Pinkwater |
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| Illustrator | Daniel Manus Pinkwater |
| Publisher | Scholastic, Inc. |
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Publication date
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1977 |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 0-590-44510-3 |
The Big Orange Splot is a children's picture book by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. It was published in 1977 by Scholastic Inc., New York. The age range is ages 4–8, and all 32 pages have a full color picture, which helps the child visualize when reading.
The vocabulary and themes in the book suggest it is targeted at adults as well.
Plot
The main character, Mr. Plumbean, lives in a mundane neighborhood, or as they call it, a "neat street", where all the houses look the same. However, a seagull flies over his house and drops a can of bright orange paint on his roof, leaving an orange splot. Instead of repainting his house to look like all the others on the street, Mr. Plumbean is inspired to broaden his horizons with his home, and he paints it to resemble his dreams. His neighbors are dismayed about this, and one of them goes to Mr. Plumbean to talk him into repainting his house to look like theirs, so they can have their "neat street" back. However, said neighbor becomes inspired to broaden his own horizons, and he go on to renovate his own home to resemble his dreams. Gradually, the other neighbors follow suit, meeting with Mr. Plumbean, and going on to renovate their own homes, and soon the street is anything but mundane or neat. In the end, outsiders may criticize the neighborhood's lack of symmetry, but all the neighbors respond:
"Our street is us and we are it. Our street is where we like to be, and it looks like all our dreams."
The drawings were made with markers, and if one looks closely one can see the marker lines.
Use in education
The book is being used in elementary school education in the US and Canada.
See also
- Broken windows theory
