Sahar Yousefi
The Big Orange SplotSeptember 19, 2025
Hello Mr. Pinkwater!
When I was 5 my mom bought me a copy of The Big Orange Splot because she liked the cover, she thought it was cute and colorful. To hell with the content. It quickly became my favorite book and I read it cover to cover every few days for quite a few years thereafter. I loved that it was a story that encouraged people to celebrate their uniqueness and creativity. And all it took was one person to make that ripple and change the persepective in their community and ultimately create a better world around them. Even after I “outgrew” picture books, I still revisted The Big Orange Splot, and to this day I keep it in a special spot in my room.
I’m now 37 and on occassion I dabble in working with kids. Next generation of artists and all that… A few weeks ago I started recommending The Big Orange Splot to parents who ask me for book recs. I even get to tell them to buy it from my local bookstore instead of big scary corporations. Getting to share one of my fav books with my impressionable littles has given me lots of joy and has made me want to come look you up on the google where I saw you have this wonderful thread which made my heart burst into joy because when I was five I dreamt of growing up and becoming a writer-storyteller-actor-musician-artist which meant that I got to meet you and tell you all this in person and show you pictures of my future plumbean inspired home. (Longest sentence ever.)
Alas dreams have a mind of their own. So here I am. I thought you might like to know you have a cult following of under fives (and perhaps a spike in sales) thanks to this unhinged still forever five year old.
(I did grow up to be a full time storyteller, I write and act and color and dabble in other creative endeavors.)
Thank you for your wonderful work.
Sahar
Daniel replies:
Since you wrote such a nice letter, and praised my book so much, I will tell you a story about that book. I wrote the story when I was away from home. I didn't have my semi-professional art kit with me. So I went to the drugstore. I bought a sketchbook meant for children, for a dollar. I also bought a set of markers, also meant for children, also for a dollar. I did sketches, and mailed them, along with the story, to a publisher. The publisher mistook the sketches for finished art, and offered me a contract. It wasn't a good contract, my share or royalty would only be five cents for each book sold, but there was some money up front, and I needed some money. Besides, I didn't know any better. I thought, if I had worked on it more, it would have been a good book, not that I thought it was bad, I wasn't ashamed of it...just, it might have been better, I thought. And so it wasn't a favorite of mine. It was an early attempt, and I learned more about contracts, and how to be a professional, and I didn't think much about this book. Actually, I sort of never thought about it. A government official called me. She said that all her subordinates had to read this book, when they came to work for her. "Why?" I asked. So she explained the book to me. "That sounds like a good book," I said. Later I found out it has sold more than a million copies. So you see, other people, including you, understand this book better than I did.