The Sign Painter

Early one morning a boy comes into town looking for work. He meets a sign painter who takes him on as a helper, and they are commissioned to paint a series of billboards in the desert. Each billboard has only one word, Arrowstar. They do not know its meaning. As they are about to paint the last sign, the boy looks up and sees in the distance a magnificent structure. Is it real? Together, they go to find out.

Here Allen Say tells a haunting story of dreams and choices for readers of all ages. It is a Common Core State Standards Text Exemplar (Grades 2-3, Read-Aloud Story). |

"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