Green

Seeger's full-bleed paintings for Green are beautiful with cleverly selected and placed diecuts that turn the book into a puzzle of sorts (a trademark for Seeger at this point). The textures she creates just beg for you to reach out and touch them. Each spread feels like an art-gallery painting that rewards extended viewing. My favorite spread is the fern green one – I love the pop of the yellow moths. I do think the “wacky green” spread is a little weak – not because of the green zebra, but because I can’t tell what the diecuts on the grass it’s eating are supposed to be - if anyone can clear that up for me, I'd appreciate it! This is such a quiet, restful sort of book that grows on you with repeated readings. The last four show more or five spreads add some contemplative depth as well - just when you think you know what's going on (we're naming colors of green, right?) Seeger switches things up on you. show less

Type:Concept Book
Recommended for: N-P
Laura Vaccaro Seeger's book, Green, is a little boring for a higher level reader, however it is saved by its beautiful oil painting pictures with engaging cutouts. The pictures are vivid, with each page showcasing a different shade of the title color. The paint appears so thick readers could be forgiven for touching it to make sure it's dry. The cutouts on each page add dimension and also a refreshing tactile element which would be engaging for students who can't yet make connections with the words. Interestingly, the book doesn't limit itself to the far off jungle, which can be difficult for younger students to connect with but brings the story full circle to children in their yard and planting show more gardens. This addition is what separates Green from many other similar concept books, and is certainly a contributing factor to the medal the book won. While I would not recommend this to higher level readers, I certainly would to new readers and also to art students, who would certainly love to look at the integration of color used by the artist. show less

Green is not only a great visual book, but also can help students learn to use description and adjectives in their writing. Seegar presents beautiful illustrations of different objects that are green and then uses die cuts to add dimension to her pictures. These die cuts are also used to connect the different shades of green on the pages because the die cuts carry over from page to page. The black cut out leaves stand out on the first page and when you turn the page, the leave then become fish in an underwater theme. Green is not only a visually appealing book but it can help show students how to connect descriptive words and the powerful imagery that can come from those connections. After looking through this book, I hope that Seegar show more comes out with other books to show the other colors because I think this is such an amazingly illustrated book. show less

I loved the simplicity of the book showing all different types and shades of green. I think having cut outs showing the different greens are really cool and fun for the kids to see and play with. The illustrations are beautiful.

This is a fun, beautifully illustrated picture book that explores and plays with different shades of the color green. If you had a rainbow week at school and focused on different colors each day, this would be a great book to have that focus on.

Unlike Blue, Green passes the "Does the dog die?" test just fine. On the other hand, without that wordless story running through it, it doesn't have the same power; only the last two pages seem connected (a boy planting a seed, and a man and his daughter looking up at a tree). Cutouts between the pages are entertaining.

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Re-read April 2021

Seeger always amazes me with her creativity and skill. This text and illustrations encourage students to slow down, and look closely through the pages, and think. In this book, she spreads all two-pages in green. Seeger is dedicated to one particular shade of green in her Honor Book. When I finished reading this book, I read it again immediately. I wanted to slow myself down, savore each page and think about the difference between the shades of green that the authour features. The shades that Seeger chooses are revealed through a nonfiction topics such as” forest green, sea green, lime green, and pea green” There are few unusual greens like "wacky green" for a green striped zebra; Seeger did not draw a green zebra to show that there show more are a lot of different shades of green in the world. Instead, "wacky green" is to expand children’s understanding of the presence of shades of green in the world to the creative “imaginary world”. Seeger creates simple yet wonderfully concept books. Her mastery of die-cuts adds a delight in unexpected and intelligent ways. I was amaze by the die cut shared by the tiger and lizard. The rectangular die cuts shows the words “jungle” and “khaki” but each is embedded in the painted scenes. Children will not easily recognize the words but when they see them they will appreciate the art and her engineering work. show less