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The Black Book Of Colors (2008)

by Menena Cottin(Favorite Author)

4.35 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0888998732 (ISBN13: 9780888998736)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Groundwood Books

review 1: I love an innovative, different book. Makes a good effort to show rather than just tell what it's like to be blind. My daughter was fascinated. Though the Braille and textures are subtle, it gets the point across. I immediately wanted to tie a blindfold over my daughter's eyes and have her try to just feel without seeing. I think would make a fantastic introduction to a Helen Keller or disabilities unit.
review 2: This was an intriguing concept. The actual physical shape of the book, which is an elongated rectangle that when opened is very wide but not high, provides a lot of flat space for the hand. The only colors are white and black, with black predominating, and the illustrations are done in black on black, "visible" only by touch or through light hitting... more the glossy finish. The text itself, which is also present in Braille, describes colors through taste, smell, or sound. The ordering of details here was a little odd. We aren't really introduced to Thomas, who explains the colors, so the the beginning is abrupt, and we are sometimes introduced to a series of colors, followed by rain or a rainbow, and then more colors which appeared in the previous sections, which struck me as slightly confusing. The Braille was a bit of a problem in mine, but that could be due to my using a library copy. The dots were very smooth, nearly impossible to feel at times. The illustrations were much easier to feel, though I'm not sure how accurate some of them would be from a blind perspective. The hair, water, and grass all had the feel of the items, but the strawberry probably couldn't have been identified as a strawberry solely by feel, for example. The end materials included a full Braille alphabet. This section did seem to be pressed more strongly than the text and could perhaps be used by a non-expert. Overall, the ideas and poetry of the book were very interesting, and the design as well, though the book might age quickly due to children repeatedly touching (and therefore flattening) some of the pressed aspects. less

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