MY RAINBOW SURPRISE

Little ones learn some basic colors.

Despite what the title says, there’s really no surprise. This whole board book makes a rainbow. The small, smiling, white, scalloped cloud that is the front cover opens to reveal a somewhat larger quarter circle of red. Each successively larger quarter circle (pages are reinforced with foam) opens to uncover the next color of the rainbow. With only six color-specific spreads, there is no room for both indigo and violet, so the more-common term “purple” has been substituted. This divergence from the common mnemonic (ROYGBIV) is acceptable considering the age of the intended audience, and the final double-page spread, which reproduces the rainbow with all seven colors, offers opportunities for motivated caregivers to explore further. As is common in books about color, the name of the color is printed in it on each page and is accompanied by the names and pictures of objects commonly associated with that color. The examples for red (apple and firetruck) and green (grass and frog) make perfect sense. But “the bill of a duck” (the fowl is distractingly green, popping against the orange of the background) for orange, “the fur of a dog” for yellow, and a whale for blue may be more confusing than edifying for literal-minded 2-year-olds. And butterflies and flowers come in many colors, not just purple.

Quibbles aside, the whole whimsical package is a visually pleasing introduction to rainbow colors for toddlers.