The Hatmaker's Sign

Title: The Hatmaker's Sign
Author: Candace Fleming
Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parker
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
www.scholastic.com
Genre: Picture Book, History
Audience: 1st- 3rd grade
Overview: A story told by Be Franklin to Thomas Jefferson who was at the time writing the Declaration of Independence. The story that was told to Jefferson was about a hat maker creating a sign for his hat store. He believed that the sign that he created was perfect. However, everyone he came across talked him into changing it to something else. By the end of his walk to the sign maker he had a blank piece of paper. The young hat maker learned that people are not always going to like your work, so keep to your own ideas.
Activity: An activity for this story would be a good lesson to get the students excited about learning of Thomas Jefferson creating the Declaration of Independence. The students could also create their own shop name. They could decide what they sell in the store, how much items cost, and create their own sign for their store.
Reviewer: Katy Ulrich