Up today, I’m sharing one of my all-time favorite books about creativity — and the beauty of this one is that it also encompasses so many more important life lessons that you can read this multiple times and have completely different conversations with your children each time. Read on to see why we love The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater.
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Mr. Plumbean lives on a neat street. And by neat, I don’t mean cool… No, this is a tidy, clean street, a street on which every single house looks the same. Until, one fateful day a seagull randomly drops a can of orange paint on his roof, and rather than immediately clean it off, Mr. Plumbean decides to leave it there (much to the dismay of his neighbors).
In fact, instead of cleaning the big orange splot off of his roof, Mr. Plumbean does the complete opposite of what his neighbors hope and expect, and uses that splot as inspiration to turn his house into his dream house. Not a super fancy dream house, but the house that he envisions in his dreams. One by one, his unique expression and contentment rub off on his neighbors, resulting in a not so neat street, but a street full of creativity, individuality, and dreams. In fact, throughout the book, Pinkwater writes the same refrain:
“My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my DREAMS.”
A book about creativity, setting goals and following your dreams, and embracing one’s individuality, The Big Orange Splot is one you’ll pull to read again and again — and one your kids will ask for over and over.
If you liked this, check out the rest of the books on our creativity booklist. Then be sure to leave the name of your favorite “be yourself” book in the comments below!
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