Blue Everywhere

By: Kristin Sterling
Publisher: Lerner Publications
Publication Date: January 2010
ISBN: 978-0761345886
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: March 15, 2010

Blue is a "cool, calm" color that many children like (adults too!). You can select blue clothes to wear, but if you look toward nature you can find things such as a blue butterfly resting on a blue flower. There are many different shades of blue that you can search for. When you look at the sky it "is a bright, bold blue." The ocean can also carry different shades of blue. If you look at the two side-by-side pages in this book with ocean scenes, you will see one that is dark blue and the other that is bright blue with shades of green. Forget-me-nots are beautiful blue flowers and the hyacinth macaw, a South American bird, is "a brilliant blue color."

Blueberries, blue sapphires, and blue makeup are blue. If your outside the windows when you are driving in a car, you can easily spot many different blue vehicles. If you look at blue jeans there are many different shades. There is a light blue that is called a pastel blue. There are shades called navy blue, blue green (turquoise), and a "purplish shade" called periwinkle. There is another kind of "blue" that means sad. There is also a kind of music called "the blues." When people like B.B. King sang about what made people sad he was singing the blues. If you look through this book or around you, you will find all kinds of "blue" things.

This is an excellent book to help young children learn about the color "blue" and introduce other primary and secondary colors. There are numerous photographs, one per page, that show examples of the color. I liked the fact that the book does not bypass the emotional aspect of the word because many children have experienced it or have at least heard the term "feeling blue." In the back of the book is an activity section that gives directions for blending the primary colors to make secondary colors. The instructions can easily be used in a homeschool or classroom setting. Included are an index, a glossary and additional recommended books and website resources.

Quill says: This is one is a series of six "Color Everywhere" books that would be perfect read and discuss books during story or circle time!