THE LEGEND OF SLAPPY HOOPER
adapted by Aaron Shepard & illustrated by Toni Goffe
A tale collected by the WPA's Federal Writers' Project, admired by Carl Sandburg as ``a fresh modern masterpiece,'' and now reinterpreted by a ``story performer'' (The Legend of Lightning Larry, p. 306). The aptly named Slappy is a Bunyan- style prodigy of a sign painter: his pictures are so lifelike that roses wilt, an eagle flies away, and a billboard depicting a beach for the ``Sunshine Travel Agency'' decimates trade by attracting sunbathers right in town. Irate customers give up hiring the hapless Slappy, but when ``the Boss'' sends a winged, paint-spattered messenger to draft him for rainbows and sunsets, His standards suit the overcapable painter to a T: ``If it isn't too good, it's not good enough!'' Goffe's freewheeling cartoons perfectly complement this well-told, amiably satirical tale. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-9)