The Hatmaker's Sign: A Story

by Candace Fleming, Robert Andrew Parker, Benjamin Franklin

To heal the hurt pride of Thomas Jefferson as Congress makes changes to his Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin tells his friend the story of a hatmaker and his sign.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Childrens, American History, Historical, 2nd Grade, Read For School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

I have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.

I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.

Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.

In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.

As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.

After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.

But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful parable that shows how too many opinions and suggestions can really change a creation and that no matter what, you can never make everyone happy. The story is entertaining and children can appreciate the many edits the poor hatmaker made until finally his sign was nothing but a picture.

The illustrations are a bit rough, but they convey an older time and complement the story nicely. I really liked the amplifying information provided in the author's note at the end that discusses Thomas Jefferson's frustration at making edits to his original draft of the Declaration of Independence. We really enjoyed reading this story together.

interesting quote:

"No matter what you write, or how well you write it, if the public is going to read it, you can be sure they will want to change it." (p. 30)

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful way to learn a little about American history! Here we meet many of the key players, think about the process of writing (including word choice and editing), and get a glimpse of Boston. The art is perfect for the story. (But I probably wouldn't have liked it as a child.) I appreciated the author's note at the end.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of Franklin's little encouraging parable to Jefferson before. And its story would have certainly been a fun one to read to children, but only if the author had not written the last page and would have instead paid better attention to the facts (which she ironically included in the author's notes.) Then it would have been fun and factual. But alas, ...

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[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this parable attributed to Ben Franklin about being true to yourself, and I suppose, sticking to your guns. That horny old fart did say some great stuff.

[Catharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few books about this time period that would be accessible for Kindergarten students because of the repetitive pieces. The story inside the story is entertaining, but it still relates some information about the founding fathers of the United States.

[Shannon Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little bit boring. It's probably not a true story. Though I could connect it with my history game Meet Felicity. In my history game there were red coats and tea.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story within a story, it's ultimately about the writing of the Constitution but within it, the courage to keep something "as is" because someone is always going to want to make it better, but that's not always the case as the hatmaker wanted to make his sign- everyone kept giving him advice, before he started all over with his original design.

The story behind the story was kind of fascinating.

[Kaia Neff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book because I am really bad at understanding and remembering history, but this book does a great job of personifying histroical characters like they're here with us today. Ben Franklin tells Thomas Jefferson a stroy to help him cope with all the criticism of the Declaration of Independance. In the end it's a good history lesson even if it may not be entirely true.

[Kea4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s a good message for kids. You think you have something perfect and everyone makes changes to your idea until you realize your first idea was pretty good from the start. I liked how it tied into the Declaration of Independence as well.

https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful book I picked up at a library book sale! When Thomas Jefferson becomes frustrated with all the revisions to his draft of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Franklin tells him this tale of a hatmaker on his way to the printer to have a sign made for his shop. A very good lesson for small children - and adults alike!

[Ashley Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love American history especially that around the American revolution. This story is about a story that Benjamin Franklin told Thomas Jefferson to help soothe his hurt feelings over people wanting to change/edit his version of the Declaration of Independence.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fast easy book with a little history so it gives you a little knowledge about the characters life

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little bit of history featuring Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

7/15/19 Read with Naomi and Julia

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Not my favorite illustrator.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't what I expected it to be, but really appreciated the story for myself.

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic true story about public perception and revision.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A parable related by Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Jefferson to heal the hurt pride of the author of the Declaration of Independence.

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing serious here, people, move along! This is a fun book about an interesting story that Benjamin Franklin apparently told Thomas Jefferson when he finished writing the Declaration of Independence and found that the Continental Congress wanted to make several changes to what he thought was a perfect document. Benjamin Franklin recited the tale of a hatmaker who wrote up a sign he wanted to hang outside his store, but everyone from his wife to the society snob felt that words in his sign were redundant. So finally he ended up with a blank sign, but then the signmaker suggested a sign that turns out to be the original idea that he had. Benjamin Franklin wanted to comfort Jefferson with the story.

Obviously, this book is only a re-imagination of the story created in recent times with some excellent illustrations. Well written and for a short book meant for children, actually pretty humorous. I especially liked the local British authority threatening to jail the hat-maker for using a word that he thought meant giving the hat-maker a license to do the opposite. Unfortunately, the story ends in a weird upbeat note, Congress accepting that Jefferson’s draft was the right one, which is totally inaccurate. A couple of pages included as the postscript to the book explains the actual history, which is that Congress made several changes to Jefferson’s draft, hurting his pride. Jefferson seemed to have been upset at this for a long time! I am not sure what the point was to fool children when the authors knew the actual history.

Anyway, the reason I read this book had to do with another story I knew about a fish-seller’s sign. The story progresses in a similar fashion until there is no sign anymore.

* We sell fresh fish here today. (Question => “Today” is obvious, isn’t it?)
* We sell fresh fish here. (But you are selling it here only, not anywhere else!)
* We sell fresh fish. (Is your fish rotten?)
* We sell fish. (Is somebody else selling the fish?)
* Selling fish. (Everyone can see you are not buying fish!)
* Fish. (But the fish is right there. Why do you need to say “fish”)
* — empty sign —

[Marlayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books begins with Thomas Jefferson writing a paper, but he doesn’t know if anyone will approve of his writing or if they think that it won't be perfect. Benjamin Franklin decides to tell Thomas a story of a man who is making a poster for his new hat store. The young man makes is own personal sign design that he thinks is perfect. As he shows more and more people his sign, they make suggestions they think would make his sign more effective in bringing costumers to his store. By the time the young man makes it to the poster maker, the sign doesn’t say anything anymore because of all the changes the man had made based on other people’s opinions. The poster maker then makes one final suggestion and makes the original poster that the young man created in the beginning. Franklin tells Jefferson that no matter what, people will always have their opinions. So Thomas Jefferson finalized his paper, defended his words, and the Declaration of Independence was created.
This story had a great moral behind the plot that no matter what, people will always judge your words, but if you defend them and believe in them then that is all that matters. Changing your own ideas to fit what other people think only hides who you truly are. The plot does introduce key historical figures and an extremely historical document that changed America, but very few details about that piece of writing was given.

[Kristy Haight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interest Level: K-3
Reading Level: 4.2

Subjects:
United States. Declaration of Independence Fiction.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Fiction.
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790 Fiction.
Historical fiction.
United States. Declaration of Independence Fiction.


Illustrator: Parker, Robert Andrew

Notes: To heal the hurt pride of Thomas Jefferson as Congress makes changes to his Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin tells his friend the story of a hatmaker and his sign.

[Kimberly Parrott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good historical picturebook for teaching children about who wrote the Declaration of Independence. It also teaches a valuable lesson that is you cannot please everyone. No matter what you do there will always be people who want to critique your work. The illustrations are a tad scribbled, but it gives the book an old-time look which fits since it talks about the Declaration of Independence.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a an excellent extension to a unit on the Declaration of Independence, the Colonial period, or Benjamin Franklin, this is a book you want to consider. The story has enough depth to hold the interest of intermediate elementary students, information that adds to the social studies curriculum materials, and illustrations that convey daily life of the era. The author's note at the end is an integral part of the story.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful parable originally told by Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Jefferson, when Jefferson was frustrated at all the changes that were being made to the Declaration of Independence, which he penned. Candance Fleming did a nice job of retelling this story in a way that young readers and listeners will understand and hopefully learn a bit from.

[Julie]

This story is about the editing process and collaboration. It is always a good idea to see what other people think about your writing and to work together. The piece of writing becomes better and stronger. However, sometimes what you had was perfect.

[Nativida · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story about writing using Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson during the time of the Declaration of Independence. This would pair well with the TED-Ed video on the power of simple words; http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-o...

[Thomas Andrikus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder how much truth there is to this story, both the Jefferson-Franklin interaction and the meta-story told by Franklim himself. But anyway, both stories serve as good parables about standing up for what one has written.

[Cws]

JENF-Fle

[Colleen]

Freedom's Trail - unit 4
Theme Library

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a very profound book about Jefferson and the writing of the Declaration of Independence (even though those things are mentioned only briefly).

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale about the writing of the Declaration of Indy.