White is for Blueberry

Starting with 'Pink is for crow,' Shannon wants us to think differently about the colors in nature. For 'when it has just hatched from its egg,' a crow is pink. And 'Black is for poppy...when we take the time to look inside.' Red, green, purple, white, blue, yellow, brown, and orange all appear in unexpected places, depending on when and where we look. Not only a challenge to the usual cliches, this book should spur curious and creative youngsters to find their own different ways of seeing.

Not everything is as it seems. I love how this book uses colors and objects that seem like they don't fit together until the author justifies it on the next page. The text and illustrations were simple but had a deeper meaning that I think all students can learn from. "It all depends on when we look...how near or far...outside or in." Different is good. Look deeper when you can and you will find beauty in all things.

White Is for Blueberry expertly demonstrates that things are not always as they seem by revealing that the colors of recognizable animals, foods, and other items are different depending on the situation. For example, snow is purple when it is under our shadows! The reader must keep turning the pages to discover how the author will justify his color-based claims. This book will help children learn colors, the names of some animals, foods, etc. and the ever important lesson that we must never judge a book by its cover. The images were rendered using acrylic paint. The pages on which the questionable color associations are presented are mostly white, with framed images of the plant or animal in the color we are used to seeing them. When show more the reader turns the page however, there is no white space and the vivid colors of the illustrations take over the entire page and sometimes the entire spread. These pages cleverly justify, for example, that, at times, blueberries are indeed white. All of the text is black, except when a color is spelled out. In that case, the color matches the word. This will help an older child read the names of the colors. This book is recommended for home and elementary school libraries and classrooms. show less

Summary: A book that explores colors through nature. The book first claims that a color is for something and it's clearly wrong, until the next page clarifies that it is for something about specific. For example, "black is for poppy.....when we take time to look inside." I like this book because it teaches to look for the unexpected and think deeper than the surface. "It all depends on how we look."

The theme of this book is perspective. This theme could be discussed with how this applies to people. Children can discuss judging something from the outside without knowing the whole story. For example, you could discuss how people tend to judge others without knowing much else other than what they look like.
I would use this book with show more younger children, as older ones may not find too much entertainment in it.
I thought this book was creative and had a nice message. show less

I love this simple, yet surprising book! It takes a look at colors in nature a way that none of us do. For example: Pink is for crow . . . when it has just hatched from its egg. The text is so thought-provoking and would a wonderful place to challenge some higher-level thinking and discussions for upper grade elementary and middle school students. The illustrations are simple, soft and really appealing. I will definitely use this book in my classroom!

In my opinion this was a very good book. While the text and illustrations were kept simple the message behind them was bigger. This book was about looking deeper than what is just seen on the surface. The author addresses this when he writes, “It all depends on how we look…how near or far, outside or in.” I liked this quote a lot because it is true for anything in life, being open minded and seeing beyond the norm is important. The illustrations greatly enhanced the text by showing the apparent in what is seen but when the page is turned the reader can look beyond the obvious and think deeper. Since the first illustration did not match the text written with it

A unique twist on the classic color-themed books, this lovely book challanges the reader to think outside the box when considering the colors found in nature. I love how the text leaves clues for the reader to find in the pictures.