I Am a Rainbow

Have you ever been tickled pink? Green with envy? Or just plain blue? Well, it's good to know that we all have a rainbow of feelings inside.

Beloved music legend Dolly Parton provides children with a fun way to talk about their feelings in this colorful, upbeat picture book. And by understanding their own feelings, they can learn to respect the feelings of others.

I Am a Rainbow will encourage children of all ages to acknowledge their feelings and take control.

Have you ever been tickled pink? Green with envy? Or just plain blue? Well, it's good to know that we all have a rainbow of feelings inside.

Beloved music legend Dolly Parton provides children with a fun way to talk about their feelings in this colorful, upbeat picture book. And by understanding their own feelings, they can learn to respect the feelings of others.

I Am a Rainbow will encourage children of all ages to acknowledge their feelings and take control.

Publishers Weekly

Parton's name appears in large sparkly letters on the jacket, a telling hint that little subtlety lies within. Playing on the premise that like the natural world, "each boy and girl/ Is made of colors too," cartoon kids express their feelings as colors. Their singsong rhymes are largely forced: "When I'm tickled PINK,/ It means I'm feeling dandy./ Everything is great and/ As sweet as cotton candy." The book sticks to traditional interpretations-an angry child sees red and a jealous one feels green. After concluding with a message about acting "through love" no matter how one is feeling, Parton offers a parting missive, noting that as a child she discovered how to see an uplifting rainbow every day: "all I had to do was reach up and pull that rainbow right out of the sky and place it in my heart." Her metaphorical advice to "let that rainbow out of your heart and watch it jump back into the sky!" is both saccharine and puzzling. Sheffield's gaudy, digitally created graphics only amplify the performer's bouncy tenor, which approaches a grating pitch. Ages 3-5. (May)

Dolly Parton is a multiple awardwinning singer, songwriter, film and television actress and producer. She started the Dollywood Foundation, which works with local community sponsors to provide Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to preschool children across America, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her theme park, Dollywood, is one of Tennessee's top tourist attractions. She wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical version of 9 to 5. She lives in Tennessee.

Heather Sheffield lives in Los Angeles, California.