Wordless Wednesday: Red and Black
Posted by: Alan in Book Reviews, Books, Easy Picture Books, Wordless Wednesday Eye Candy
Welcome to my only second –Ever– Wordless Wednesday! Today’s books are so clearly unique, interesting and unusual that I felt I just _had_ to share them with you here today. The Black Book of Colors may well be the most unusual children’s book I have ever seen. First published in Mexico, The Black Book of Colors won the New Horizons prize at the Bologna (Italy) Children’s Book Fair in 2007 and has since been published throughout the world to much critical acclaim.
Held in indirect light the book appears to be completely black, save for brief but very vivid descriptions of colors, which are illustrated by raised black on black drawings that can be experienced by touch. Designed to educate children about the world of the blind, this remarkable book, which on closer examination is printed both in Braille and in English text is marvelously complex and reveals itself more and more with each reading and examination. From yellow that "tastes like mustard, but is soft as a baby chick’s feathers" to green that "tastes like lemon ice cream and smells like grass that’s just been cut", the descriptions of each color of the rainbow are remarkably evocative. This is an extraordinary book that I think Everyone should take home and experience. Very Highly Recommended The Black Book of Colors– $17.95
Last week I was shelving Easy Picture Books and happened upon The Red Book by Barbara Lehman. 
Like David Weisner’s Flotsam, The Red Book is a children’s story book with No words. The story is told entirely in pictures. Two children, one in a snowy city and the other on a tropical island each find a red book, and opening it see pictures of each other. The snow girl buys a bunch of baloons after school and uses them to fly to the boy’s island. I have not seen any other wordless children’s books besides the two that I have reviewed, but if I come across more I will be sure to save them for a Wordless Wednesday. Very cute. Recommended. The Red Book–only $12.95
Happy Wednesday everyone, and please visit again tomorrow when Children’s Book Week continues here on The Thin Red Line.
Tags: Barbara Lehman, blindness, Book Reviews, Books, Braille, Easy Picture Books, Menena Cottin, Rosana Faria, The Black Book of Colors, The Red Book
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November 12th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I agree on The Black Book of Colors. I recently came across it when searching my library for books originally published in other countries, and this was among the most striking of any book I’ve seen recently. Very interesting! Thanks for the commentary.