What is Color?

Children's Literature - Carrie Hane Hung

From the "Get Art Smart" series, read about color. Find out what are primary and secondary colors along with how artists use colors to create different moods and feelings. To illustrate the use of color in a piece, different works of art by master artists such as Renoir, van Gogh, and de Toulouse-Lautrec are included. Captions identify the different paintings and the insets direct attention to the way that color is used in the work. The boldface words in the body of the text are in a pictorial glossary found at the back of the book. Some readers may need guidance with the informational text features and content vocabulary. The book makes a nice resource for art appreciation and art lessons about color for beginners. For additional information, there are a couple books and websites that are suggested for further exploration. The other books in this art series cover art concepts of form, line, shape, space, and texture; the layout and format of the books are similar. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3–These books describe and explain concepts, techniques, and phenomena in art in a collaborative, first-person plural tone that uses accessible, well-thought-out phrases. Concrete visual examples are in the form of frequent and excellent reproductions of fine art in a variety of mediums. Although the examples are, for the most part, drawn from the Western canon, Egyptian, Japanese, and Native American art also make appearances. An exceptionally spacious layout gives each concept room to breathe. Even children who regularly employ the relevant techniques will benefit from the explanations and illustrations in these books. The authors also provide short but excellent lists of print and online further-reading. Respectable and respectful resources.