Children’s Literature In (Profane) Review: The Big Orange Splot

Or as I like to call it, “Mr. Plumbean Says Fuck Your HOA.”

Pictured above: The hero we never knew we needed. Featuring some stains because this is my kiddo’s copy of this book and it has been very well-loved. Photo by yours truly, Staten Blogging.

I have a soft spot for children’s books. There are a lot of reasons for this, the two most prominent being these: One, I have a child who loves books. Two, I myself was once a child who loved books, and I have a strong propensity for nostalgia.

So when my daughter, now almost four years old, first showed an interest in one of my childhood favorites — The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater — I couldn't have been more thrilled to share it with her.

I bought a copy of that book not long after finding out I was pregnant, as much for myself as for my child-to-be. See, I have fond memories of being six years old, sitting on my eight-year-old brother’s bedroom floor, with said brother’s copy of The Big Orange Splot in my greedy little hands, reading and re-reading the story as fast as I could before said brother came in and yelled at me for being in his room and messing with his stuff.

(He probably wouldn’t have noticed if I’d just swiped the book and kept it in my own room, but I was more interested in stories than in logic.)

I remembered a story that promoted imagination; one that encouraged you to defy the expectations of those around you in order to let your creativity lift you…