Anna Peterson

June 5, 2000

Mr. Pinkwater-

Fan Mail: I LOOOOOOOVE “The Big Orange Splot”. I loved it as a kid, and I love it now as a young adult. The pictures and the story are fantastic! I’m not of the belief that a person’s calling in life can be attributed to any one influence. However, I am pretty darn sure that my passion for the arts (specifically theatre, more specifically lighting design) can be partially attributed to lessons I learned as a child like the one in “Splot”. Originality is good, being yourself is the only thing to be, and your own happiness and confidence in your self and dreams are way more important than what anyone else may say about them.

Question: Do you have anything to say about the message in “The Big Orange Splot,” or how the book came about? (I’d love to hear it.)

Also, just which of your books are intended for the older range of children out there (over 10ish, maybe)? (Those books that would take most “adults” more than five or ten minutes to read, once.)

As a much obliged, life-long fan…

-Anna Peterson

P. S.

I thought you might be interested to know that I’m writing a paper for a final exam about your book “The Big Orange Splot.” The premise of the paper has to do with reflecting on a book from your childhood as a young adult. Include: what the book taught you, how you perceived it as a child, how you perceive it now, hidden messages. (Not that the “message” in “Splot” was exactly hidden, it’s just that the message isn’t the point of the book to a kid.)

The secret message in The Big Orange Splot is that if you do enough eccentric things, you can keep a fairly large alligator as a pet, and your neighbors won't insist you get rid of it.