COLORS!

Duck and Goose are back with another board book to help very young children learn their colors.

While the story is slight—as in nonexistent—these two cleanly drawn friends are the perfect teachers to introduce colors. Duck and Goose look just as wide-eyed and incredulous as in the original picture books—as if they are just amazed at their newfound knowledge. Each double-page spread is a simple statement of fact, with a simile that references items that young children will recognize and that are easily found on the page. “The inchworm is GREEN, like leaves.” While young children may not recognize an inchworm, they will recognize leaves and be able to identify the other green object—the inchworm. Hills includes seven of the eight colors from the kindergarten crayon box: yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, and black, plus white. He substitutes gray for brown, perhaps as a way to include Duck's friend Thistle, who is gray. Indeed, the book serves as an introduction to the whole world of Duck & Goose, guaranteeing that young children will be eager to graduate to Hill's relatively more complex picture books when they outgrow board books.

Duck and Goose have taken their places alongside Frog and Toad and George and Martha as fine examples of friendship, curiosity, and problem-solving, and this offering is a good way to introduce babies to the pair.