Vivid: Poems & Notes about Color by Julie Paschkis (review)

The author/illustrator of Flutter & Hum: Animal Poems/Aleteo y Zumbido: Poemas de Animales (BCCB 7/15) returns here with over a dozen lyrical poems about colors, partnered with factual prose tidbits. For instance, “Purple” features a “Lilac Point Siamese/with no fleas” and information about violet light and historical purple dye; “Green” celebrates the scent of a “damp dawn long gone” and provides some information about the etymology of the word. Some of the color facts are a little underexplained, but they’re interesting; more pleasing is the poetry, since Paschkis delights in sonorous soundplay, with internal and end rhymes playfully mingling with alliteration (“daffodils yell hello./Hot yellow”—“Yellow”). Slender, swirly lines lend panache as well as definition to the gouache shapes for the featured colors; the translucency of the pigments bathes the spreads in luminous light. Fans of Sidman’s Red Sings from Treetops (BCCB 3/09) are the obvious audience for this, but it would also offer some, ahem, vivid material for a storytime or basic science curriculum. An author’s note gives more information about color and perception.