Fourth Starred Review for The Black Book of Colors

The Black Book of Colors, by Menena Cottin
978-0888998736 | $17.95 hc | in stock
Groundwood Books (HarperCollins)

The Black Book of Colors has been given a starred review in October’s Booklist, bringing the total number of starred reviews for this title to four:

How do you describe the colors of the rainbow to someone who cannot see them? This inventive picture book relates the ways the unseen Thomas experiences colors—through his senses of smell, taste, touch, and hearing. To Thomas, red is the sting of a skinned knee or the tartness of an unripe strawberry; green, the scent of freshly mown grass. What is most remarkable about this book’s captivating concept, however, is its execution. Black raised line art is set against black pages that echo Thomas’ spirited imagery and invite readers to explore what it’s like to read with their fingertips. The descriptive, sensory text, which also incorporates white type and Braille, combined with an innovative design, makes this book the perfect starting point for discussions on difference, perspective, and experiencing and describing the world in new ways, topics that are relevant to readers of all ages. Winner of the New Horizons Prize at the 2007 Bologna Children’s Book Fair and originally published in Spanish, the text is translated here by Elisa Amado. A Braille alphabet is appended.
— Kristen McKulski