The Rainbow Book

PreS—Children love rainbows, and even though this one includes pink and omits indigo, it effectively articulates the ways that emotions can be evoked and depicted through color. Illustrated with heavy, cut-paper pages in pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet/purple, the story tells how these hues make the narrator feel. Orange is energetic and strong, purple is mysterious and exciting, blue is peaceful. Each page is cut in a different shape (reminiscent of snowflakes), and a kaleidoscopic image appears with the accreted layers. The black background gives the package great visual punch, and in the final collage-style foldout, readers see all the colors as a metaphor for the full range of human emotion. Unfortunately, the author avoids negative feelings like sadness or anger (blue and red, anyone?), effectively invalidating them; in this sense, the title is not a useful instrument to approach a discussion of feelings. The concept will be freshest for a preschool audience and will appeal to their desires for a tactile reading experience along with their lesson.—Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC