Product Description

He's bad at sports and not much better at school, but Jimmy sure can draw terrific cartoons. And his dream, like that of his Uncle Lester, who writes flop Broadway musicals'is to be recognized for what he loves doing most.

1993 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)
1993 Choices: The Year's Best Books (Publishers Weekly)
Children's Books of 1993 (Library of Congress)
1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1993 (NY Public Library)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266279 in Books
• Published on: 1995-06-30
• Released on: 1995-06-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.com Review
Ages 8 & up. The first children's book both written and illustrated by cartoonist Feiffer is a funny, poignant and profoundly insightful look at the inner life of an artist, who also happens to be a young boy. Jimmy Jibbett loves drawing cartoons and hopes to be great some day--but first he must cope with a lack of privacy, a father who wishes he liked sports instead of drawing, a popular older boy who pressures him to sell out and his own urge to give up when he's failing. Just when Jimmy's starting to think that he's "doomed to be as much a flop as a cartoonist as he was as a boy," he finds a way to look at failure in a new light. In a starred review, Booklist called it "wickedly funny... reminiscent of Roald Dahl's edgy lampoons." In another starred review, Publishers Weekly declared it "one of the best books of the year."

From Publishers Weekly
Feiffer's debut as a children's book author concerns a boy who expresses himself by making comic books; in a starred review, PW said, "[This] witty story... combines a comfortably oldfangled tone with up-to-the-minute characterizations and a playful use of graphics." Ages 8-12.-- witty story... combines a comfortably oldfangled tone with up-to-the-minute characterizations and a playful use of graphics." Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-A disappointment to his father, a daydreamer in the classroom, and a failure on the ball field, Jimmy Jibbett decides that, at 10, he is a flop as a boy. He finds comfort, however, in his talent for drawing and in his conviction that he will one day be a great cartoonist. But even this dream is threatened when the most popular boy in school decides that he and Jimmy should collaborate on a strip. His uncle's counsel that "failure is the ugly duckling" is full of cheerful promise, but sadly suspect, since Lester's career as a composer is distinguished by what Jimmy's father delights in calling "floperoos." And, indeed, when Lester's one success turns spurious, he bitterly rejects his own advice and gives up. Ultimately it is Jimmy who turns their respective ugly duckling failures into swans of success. Meanwhile in his first book for youngsters, Feiffer has created his own swan. His theme may be as old as Horatio Alger's "strive and succeed" credo, but he manages to give it fresh life and relevance through his terrifically engaging protagonist and his memorable family. Not surprisingly, the Pultizer Prize-winner's splendidly energetic line drawings capture his characters' angst, anger, and exuberance while his renditions of Jimmy's own action-hero cartoons are right-on in their sense of emerging talent and preadolescent temper. Jimmy's drawings may be informed by innocence but Feiffer's book about this boy's trials and triumphs is wonderfully wise.
Michael Cart, formerly at Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful! Best book ever!
I originally read "The Man in the Ceiling" in the fourth grade and I really didn't understand it, but then in the sixth grade I read it again, and now, as the title of the review mentions, it's my favorite book ever. I am now sixteen years old and I'm still reading it over and over again. The story deals with a young boy who struggles with inadequacy and failure. His main aspiration is to become a cartoonist, but he recieves little support from anyone. His father, a bitter overworked man, wishes Jimmy (the boy) would play sports rather than make comics, and because of this, finds it hard to express love toward his son. His sisters nag him and torment him daily and his mother has little to do with what goes with him. Jimmy's uncle, a failure himself, tells Jimmy to keep at it, and he'll eventually make it, but by the end of the story, the uncle himself is the one who is broken (the not the very end, but it's to good to give away.) Not so fast, this story isn't as depressing as I've made it out to be. It's actually very witty and funny and has a dark sense of humor. Comics Jimmy draws are included through out the story and it is interesting to see how Jimmy interprets events and his surroundings into his art. Very funny, but very sad, and with a wonderful ending. What every book should be, regardless of the reading level.

The man in the ceiling
The Man in the Ceiling, by Jules Feiffer
Review by Jack Humsey

This story is about a boy named Jimmy, who thinks he is a failure. Jimmy is eleven years old, and is very quiet and artistic. He mostly draws comics like the ones in comic books. He finds the true meaning of effort and confidence through his ambition to become a famous cartoonist. Jimmy's family is very odd in many ways. His dad is all about business and his mom, like Jimmy, is an artist. But they both don't understand why Jimmy's hobby and ambition is drawing cartoons. His biggest fans are his younger and older sisters. But his older sister pushes him around and is angry all the time.
I think the strengths of the book are the transitions. They are very dramatic. The characters go from loneliness to happiness. I think transitions are important in books because they help the reader get the feeling of the settings and people.
It was hard for me to choose something to criticize. But if I had to choose, I would change the father's personality. At the beginning of the book he wasn't interested in his son's work at all, but after the success of the weird uncle's play, the father realized that his son is very unique. That didn't entirely make sense to me.
This book would help some readers build their own confidence. It would be good for people who are artistic and imaginative, people who prefer to work alone. People who are lonely would relate to this book.

Holiday Montessori Chat & Chew review
We are a group of students in Kansas City, Mo. that read books and discuss them over our lunch. Our grades are 4th -6th. We all had different opinions of the book. Most of us really enjoyed the comics, some of related to the fact that he could not draw hands. Many of us related to his family life. His father worked very hard and found it difficult to show emotion. One day the family went to a play produced by their artistic uncle. The father saw himself in the play as he acted towards his family. The character that he compared himself to was a robot with no emotion. After the play he tried to show more emotion to his family. The main character Jimmy is nothing like his father.For one,Jimmy likes to draw comics and is more of a artistic kind of kid unlike his father who likes baseball and his work.Then there is this boy at school (Charlie Beemer)who wants for Jimmy to draw his ideas in exchange for his friendship.Jimmy likes to draw his own ideas.In the end his father finds more time for his family. In all we all think that you will like the book THE MAN IN THE CELLING.