A Day So Gray

Two girls - one light-skinned, one brown-skinned - bundle up and head out into a wintry landscape. The white girl sees "blah brown" and "boring white," while the brown-skinned girl finds color everywhere. At last, as they sit in front of a fire, the white girl grudgingly admits, "Well, it is cozy." The girls agree that their day as "so much more than gray."

See also: I Feel Teal by Lauren Rille, Swatch by Julia Denos

I wanted to love this. I love the idea of seeing all sorts of colors in what appears to be a gray day. For me though the “story” was plodding and didactic. It consists of one friend saying everything is gray (or black – I didn’t like the black cats are bad luck part not really being challenged) and the other friend pointing out all the colors truly there if viewed carefully. That’s pretty much it, or 95% of it. The illustrations were pleasant and interesting (especially some of the nature scenes) but I didn’t love them. 2-1/2 stars For me it was disappointing but don’t listen to me. I’m not a young child and perhaps I was not in the right mood to read it.

This sweet and colorful book will encourage young readers who are having a bad day or are tired of winter to look on the bright - and colorful - side.

The narrative begins with a young white girl with reddish-brown hair starting out the window at a snowy scene, saying "This day is so gray." A smiling girl with curly dark hair and dark skin offers her a hat and says "No, it isn't!" The two venture outside into the snowy landscape. As the white girl stomps along behind, hands in pockets, the colored girl splashes in blue puddles and feels the warm yellows of the sun shining through the snow onto the trees. They walk through fields of brown, where one sees orange, red, and tan, through white snow with "lines of purple and squiggles of show more gray." A black cat is denounced as bad luck, until the cheery girl inspects her pink paws, flecks of white, green eyes, and exults in her warm fur. The two are back inside now, inspecting an orange fire that's more than just orange, and finally curling up together with the black cat, under a colorful quilt, as they admire the sunset.

Marley's colorful art joins with Lamba's poetic prose to create a colorful celebration of looking for the color, warmth, and loveliness when things seem dark, gray, and sad.

Verdict: A good storytime choice, best for preschool-age children. Also a good choice for classrooms to read and discuss the variety of colors and different shades they represent, or looking for positive aspects of a situation or event. I included this on my activity calendars.

ISBN: 9781328695994; Published October 2019 by Clarion Books; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library show less

Once you start to notice, colors and reasons for gratitude are everywhere, and that changes everything! Celebrate the hues and comforts of a cozy winter day as a discontented girl at first notices only dull grays and browns in a snowy landscape but is coaxed by her friend to look more closely. Soon she finds orange berries, blue water, purple shadows, and more. Warm friendship and a fresh way of seeing things transform a snow-covered landscape from bleak to beautiful!

Illustrations are top here. One child laments the gray of winter while her friend points out the colors found even in the darkest season.