diverse picture book (feelings, colors; preschool/kindergarten ages 4-6)
* prominently features diverse characters: yep, an African-American boy stars along with his family (little sister, older brothers, mom and dad) plus a bunch of dark-skinned, dark-haired friends.
* would work for preschool storytime--yep, a very rhymey, action-packed story that also deals with colors and feelings, though I feel like older kids would be more able to relate--things like being pushed around by older siblings and going out with friends to play basketball, washing the dishes as a daily chore are experiences that older kids would recognize and appreciate. ( )

Jamie uses colors, tastes and sounds to descibe his moods. There's a cute poem to describe each mood. This is a fun and different way for kids to learn about and express emotions. I would like to see what kind of poems kids could create about their moods using this authors style. ( )

The main character in the book uses colors to describe how he is feeling throughout the day. Jaime uses colors to identify his emotions. I think the book can be used in younger classrooms to help students identify their emotions. I used to work in a school that would do Restorative Circle and the K/1 students were asked to use colors to describe their moods. This book would have fit nicely with the initial lesson on this activity. The store is told by different poems on the colors that Jaime is feeling and what is causing him to feel that way. I loved this book and it illustrations. ( )

I loved this book! The book is about a boy named, Jamie, who writes about the type of mood he’s in by using colors, sounds and tastes. The book is written through short poems. For example:

I’m in a mood
A feeling kind of mood
A being kind of mood
Is what I’m in

A purple kind of mood
Cold- plum eating
Grape- juice drinking
On the couch
Bobbing to the beat of mood
A purple kind of mood
That’s what I’m in

I loved that the book was written this way because it made it very fun and engaging. It was a quick read! The illustrations were also great. Depending on the color Jamie was “experiencing,” that was the color of all of all the pictures. The colors written about were purple, gray, green, black, orange, red, brown, yellow and blue. There was no overall message of the book. Overall, it is a fantastic read! ( )

Jamie, the young boy who narrates this book, tells us about all of the moods he might experience in a day. Irresistibly spirited, Jamie summons images of colors and tastes and sounds to help us know exactly how he is feeling.

Playing basketball with his friends, he is all about orange happiness, which turns to red when he has to rush home because he promised to get back before dark:

"RED!
Run!
Gotta get home!
Fire-engine-roaring-down-
the-street-hot-flames-
shooting-from-my-feet-
don’t stop-to-take-a-
breath-till-I-make-it-
through-the-door RED!
Whew!"

Even when he’s taking his turn washing dishes after dinner, he finds a way to turn it into rhythm and moods:

"Cool, blue okay
Time with myself
In my own space
hands swirling ‘round
In liquid peace
Sailing on waves
In the sky of my mind
A bluesy kind of mood
That’s what I’m in"

Evaluation: My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood is another winning addition to the subcategory of books that helps kids describe and understand their changing feelings. The text has the right amount of humor and warmth, even with “bad” moods, and illustrator Shane Evans employs digital collage enhanced with oil paints and graphite to capture the emotions of kids perfectly. ( )