Growing Colors

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

McMillan has created a feast of a colors book using fruits and vegetables of every hue. Each double-page spread has a small photograph of the whole plant and a large close-up of the fruit or vegetable. The colors are announced in bold type tinted in the appropriate shade. In the selection of vegetables, McMillan moves beyond ordinary supermarket produce, showing purple beans and brown peppers. At the end of the book, there is a picture glossary of all the colors and plants used. And in a final note, McMillan discusses his plant choices, their sources and his photographic techniques (such as misting the vegetables and fruits to enhance their natural colors). Such a brilliant presentation of colors will be an eyeful for any small child; older readers (and adults) will appreciate the composition and clarity of every photo, which sets off each piece of produce like a jewel. Ages 2-4. (August)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3 A vibrant introduction to the beauty of colors in nature. Fourteen vegetables and fruits are dramatically visualized with full-page photographs, accompanied by a color word, as well as a glimpse of how the vegetables grow. Most effective are the shots of carrots and onions growingtheir root tops showing just above the dark moist earth, green pods bursting with succulent peas, ravishing blueberries, a proud husk of golden corn, and melt-in-your-mouth blackberries. The intensity and vibrance of color is breathtaking. This is a spotless bookeven the onions and potatoes pulled directly from the dirt are ulta-clean. Exceptional clarity and artistic composition of the dew-tipped photographs makes each suitable for framing. Cleverly complementing the traditional red raspberries and orange carrots are unusual variants portraying brown peppers and purple beans. However, while the close-up view of the vegetables and fruits is exciting visually, the lack of consideration for congruity of size is in sharp contrast to the stark simplicity of the book's concept. The pair of cantaloupes appear diminished in stature, yet the bright orange apricots are so large that they appear to be oranges. Also, the use of only upper-case letters will make the text difficult for young children to read. A final listing of the colors and the names of the fruits and vegetables is a valuable resource. A delicious book for a wide range of ages. Ronald Jobe, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada