Kita and the Magic Paint

By: Laura Schaumer
Illustrated by: Pardeep Mehra
Publisher: Laura Schaumer Books
Publication Date: November 2020
ISBN: 978-1777453428
Reviewed by: Holly Connors
Review Date: November 23, 2021

Two friends, a lot of paint, and loads of pretty, little daisies, combine to create a fun new children’s book that teaches children what happens when colors are mixed together.

Kita the raccoon and Bushy the squirrel are good friends who love to play together. Today, they have several cans of paint and lots of white daisies to paint. Kita decides to first paint a daisy blue while Bushy paints one red. But then Kita decides it’d be fun to add red to her daisy while Bushy adds blue to his red daisy. They both expect that the daisies will be half red and half blue. But wow! Surprise! Both daisies turn purple! It must be magic!

The two friends decide that they should try different colors and see what happens. Kita paints a daisy yellow while Bushy paints one blue. The “new” yellow and blue daisies look lovely so they decide to swap paint colors again and see what happens. And wow! Surprise! Both daisies turn green! It must be magic!

Soon, Kita and Bushy are joined by other friends and they all get excited about trying different color combinations. Each time, the result is unexpected. And when Annie the bunny hops her way onto the painted daisies, watch out!

Kita and the Magic Paint is a fun story that uses a delightful assortment of animal friends to teach young readers about the wonders of colors. The concept of mixing two colors to create an all-new color can be confusing for youngsters but debut author Laura Schaumer figured out a unique way to convey the “magic” that happens when you mix colors. To aid in understanding, the black text of the story is changed to another color when a specific color is mentioned (the word “blue” changes to blue text, “red” to red text, etc.). Children may be surprised by each color change and will likely try to guess the results of each mixing of colors as they turn the pages. When you then add in the vibrant, adorable illustrations by Pardeep Mehra, this will likely be a book your child will reach for again and again.

Quill says: What is better than having fun with paints and watching different colors combine to make all new colors? Kita and the Magic Paint uses a delightful array of forest animals to teach children what happens when you mix colors in a way that young readers can easily understand.

For more information on Kita and the Magic Paint, please visit the author's website at: lauraschaumerbooks.com