SHAPES AND COLORS

Australian author/illustrator Canty builds a conceptual guessing game around the rainbow’s seven colors.

Beginning with red, a double spread presents silhouettes of solid-color shapes against white space, text asking “What’s red?” Children are invited to guess the identities of these scarlet-hued images—some familiar, others mysterious—based on their shapes and contours. A page turn reveals the same images, now labelled and lushly painted, set against a bright red background: twin cherries with adjoining stems; a ladybug; a fire truck with hose and ladder; and more. This pattern holds through the succeeding six rainbow hues. Scale is irrelevant here—a banana dwarfs both a honeybee and a taxi cab. Some pictures are solidly aligned with their colors: an orange orange, green peas, violet violets. Other items (a balloon, boots, a shirt, a comb) have perhaps been selected more for their daily familiarity for preschoolers than their affinity with specific colors. Two later spreads beckon readers to ponder colors in the city and countryside, imbuing both landscapes with brilliant color and verve. The rainbow is introduced last, its colors labeled. Canty’s illustrations are exquisitely clear, drawing children in first to guess at the silhouetted mystery images, then to linger over the beautifully painted ones.

A stellar concept title and a fine choice for both one-on-one and group sharing.