A Sign by George Ella Lyon

A neon sign maker.  A circus tight rope walker.  An astronaut. No, none of these.  A writer.  A Sign, by George Ella Lyon tells the story of a young girl’s progression of dreams as she grows up.  The young girl, who turns out to be the author, eventually grows up to be a writer and realizes she still does many of the things she would’ve done in those author jobs.  She “makes words glow” and “puts one word in front of the other and hopes the story doesn’t fall” and she “blasts words into readers’ hearts.”  The illustrations compliment the story by showing the physical growth of the girl alongside her mental maturation. The details in the illustrations indicate that a great deal of care was put into them; however, they weren’t overly appealing to me.  That being said, I had a warm feeling after reading this book.  It really brought home to me just how much important childhood dreaming is for helping us develop into the person each of us is meant to become. 
            After reading this book to children, I would tell them about my own childhood dream occupations, such as wanting to be a photographer, scuba diver, and lawyer, and how I decided on becoming a teacher.  I think it would be fun to incorporate a worksheet, or have children draw their own, that depicts a series of growing child and have the students color in the figures as the occupations they wanted to be at that age.  For instance, maybe when they were three they wanted to be a fire fighter and when they were four a doctor.  As a homework assignment, I would have them interview a family member about their childhood dream occupations and the job they eventually decided on.  I would invite guest speakers who have interesting jobs to come talk about their childhood dream occupations and their current occupation.   My goal with this book and these activities would be that children grasp that the world is their smorgasbord; they can pick up whatever they want and change their minds and go back for something different later on.  Another topic I would use this book for is talking about writers.  I think it is good for students to think critically about what it is that writers do for us. I want them to gain an understanding about the power words can have to comfort, entertain, ignite change, create controversy, and to simply be a friend to a lonely reader. 
Year Published: 1998          Illustrator: Chris Soentpiet