Colors for Zena by Monica Wellington (review)

This picture book embeds a lesson in primary and secondary colors into a simple narrative. When Zena wakes up in a monochromatic house, she wonders where all the colors have gone. And boy, does she find out: in the next spread, she and her dog encounter a world of yellow, in the next a world of red, and in the subsequent spread, orange, the mixture of the two previous hues. Then they encounter a blue spread followed by a yellow spread, followed by—you guessed it—green, and so on. Each time the primary colors mix, the resulting secondary color is announced by something of that color ("'I am yellow and red mixed together,' roars the lion"), thus delivering the lesson directly and accessibly. The concept is somewhat forced, and the accompanying text is slight and overexclamatory. Zena is an enjoyable figure, though, somewhat reminiscent of Dora the Explorer with her bobbed hair, her penchant for adventure, and her constant declarations of enthusiasm ("Red is exciting!" "Magnificent!" "Fantastic!"). The gouache illustrations have a tidy regularity that suggests digital art or even fabric art; each scene wisely counters the key color with black and gray tones, and as the progression continues, escapees from earlier spreads join Zena and add some color variety. The book closes with Zena and her new many-colored friends collaborating on a many-colored painting, and the resulting composition is chock full of colors encountered along the way, providing listeners with a final opportunity to review the color concepts presented. A succinct explanation of the color wheel and some suggested activities for experimenting with color are included.