Ramona Badescu; Illustrated by Benjamin Chaud
We were first introduced to the delightful pink elephant last year in Pomelo Begins to Grow, which I liked very much. Now we are treated to his clever and humorous observations on color. It turns out that I think I like Pomelo's second book even more than his first.
Ramona Badescu does one of the best jobs describing colors in a children's book that I have ever seen. Her approach is brilliant, going beyond the appearance of color, using objects and events to describe the way the certain colors can make a person feel or the memories colors can represent. On top of that, her sense of humor shines through.
I typically prefer large picture books over small ones, but this one is an exception: 6.5" by 6.5" is just right for Pomelo and his colors. The right side of each page presents the illustration and the left offers a one sentence description. I had expected one page for each color, but it's so much more interesting to have a couple. The swirling blue of the sky is quite different than the icy blue of winter, and the messy brown of mud is a completely different color from the shiny brown of chestnuts.
I laughed at the revealing purple of blueberries both because of the guilty look on Pomelo's face put there by the ring of blueberry juice around his mouth and because she's right, those berries are far more purple than blue. We also liked the green-gray of rot and the tiny insects who were clustered around, immensely enjoying that moldy lemon. We laughed ourselves silly to see Pomelo lying face down among the dangerous gray of stones.
Altogether very smart and clever. Wonderful for a fairly large age range; smaller kids will enjoy the colors and illustrations, while older kids will understand the humor. I hope Pomelo comes through with a third book.
Review copy provided by Enchanted Lion.
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