Growing Colors: A Beautiful Picture Book About Nature's Rainbow in Everyday Foods for Children (Ages 4-8)

by Bruce McMillan

A tasty picture book about colors! Join award-winning photographer Bruce McMillan as he takes his camera in search of some of nature's gorgeous colors found in gardens and orchards—and expect the unexpected! With vibrancy, clarity, and brilliance, these photos will help young readers learn about their fruits and veggies, and also help them explore all the colors of the rainbow through everyday foods. “A vibrant introduction to the beauty of colors in nature.” — School Library Journal “Such a brilliant presentation of colors will be an eyeful for any small child.” —Publishers Weekly

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Nonfiction, Plants, Childrens, Science, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Curtis Hudson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Growing Colors is simple. Too simple. It just consists of photographs of fruits and vegetables. The color being displayed is written on the page opposite the photograph along with another photo that shows how the respective fruit or vegetable grows. McMillan used some interesting examples, like brown peppers and purple beans, but I'm afraid that those examples might be a bit confusing for children. Don't get me wrong, the photographs are quite nice. The colors are vivid, but your preschool aged child deserves more in a color concept book.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruce McMillan's Growing Colors is a brilliant picture book that is a sure to help children learn their colors. The book has one color on each page, that is accompanied by two photographs of a growing fruit or vegetable. It teaches kids not only about colors but also about nature! Some of the foods grow above ground and some under, and this book would be a great opportunity to teach children about different fruits and vegetables and what colors they can be. All of the photographs were taken in the New England Gardens, and all of the colors in the photographs were kept how they were found in nature. To emphasize the colors even more the foods were sprayed with water and a reflector was used for the lighting. All of the images are vibrant and clear, and are such a great teaching tool. This book would be great for any young child 2 or older, and they could get more involved by guessing or naming the fruits and vegetables. Growing Colors would be perfect to have in an in home or preschool/daycare library to help young friends learn their colors!

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are three images per double-page spread. On the top left of the left page is a bright color 4x6ish photo of the plant as it appears in a garden. On the bottom right of the left page is the color of the featured food in block letters of the color of the word. The right page is a brilliant full page close-up photo of the food.
red=raspberry
orange=carrot
yellow=squash
green=peas in the pod
blue=blueberries
and so forth, with some repeats of colors with other foods

When sharing this the reader can ask, "Who likes raspberries?" or "What color is this?" or "Have you tasted ...?" The foods are not named in the text but there is a glossary at the end of the book.

[Erik D]

Growing Colors by Bruce McMillan (1988)
Learn about things that grow in the garden as well as colors in this beautiful photographed concept book. Fruits and vegetables are prominently featured in photographs by McMillan that bring healthy foods from the garden to life! Readers not only learn about fruits and vegetables but the concept of all the colors that occur in nature. McMillan initially invites the featured color in the form of fruit/vegetable from a distance or zoomed out shot making great use of point of view. He then shows a very close up picture for maximum exposure and detail. Photographs are vibrant in the respective colors they showcase, and the accompanying text is large and matches color with the word and the featured vegetation. The end of the book recaps all of the colors and names the fruits and vegetables so that young readers can learn more about them. This would be a nice concept book-add to a classroom or library for readers age 4-8. Awards: An ALA Booklist Starred reviewed book. ALA Children’s Editor’s Choice Award. Target Audience: Ages 4-8

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is just the name of a color on one side of the page and a picture of a vegetable or fruit on the other side. I really like this book for one on one use and could see it being a valuable addition in some classrooms, but I keep seeing it on storytime blogs and shelves, and I probably wouldn't use it there.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little color book that identifies the colors of fruits and vegetables.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruce McMillan takes his camera into the garden and orchard to discover color as it grows in nature: Red raspberries, orange carrots, yellow squash, green peas and more.

Vibrant, lush photographs.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for babies

[K Morlando · Rating 3 out of 5]

a colorful book that teaches different colors of different items.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent picture books to teach colors!

[Jessica Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing Colors is a breathtaking book that is written by Bruce McMillan. The book Growing Colors is all about fruits and vegetables and the beautiful and natural colors that they possess. Each word of the color is written on the page in a bright and bold color that reflects that fruit or vegetable that is portrayed in the picture on the page. The book shows each of the fruits and vegetables in its natural environment and allow the children to see what they look like up close as well as what they look like far away and on the bush or vine that they grow on. Looking at books like this, allow children to relate a plain color that they know or see to something that is naturally occurring in their world as well as something that is good and healthy for them to eat.

I love this book and think that it is perfect to use for children who are in preschool or kindergarten. The book allows children to see natural fruits and vegetables and know that there are real things that have beautiful colors other than the paint cans in their art rooms. I would absolutely use this book in a group activity or setting where the children could read or look at the book together and maybe come up with more things that they see in their natural environments that are this color. Another great thing about this book is that since the name of the fruit or vegetable is not on the page with the picture, in the back of the book there are two pages that tell the name of the fruit or vegetable with its picture beside of it.

I can not describe what a beautiful job Bruce McMillan did in capturing the pictures of the fruits and vegetables the way that he did. The pictures are the foundation of what each color represents. I also love that he used the word on the page to reflect the color of the vegetable or fruit in the picture, this just reiterates the importance of the color for the child. On each page Bruce put a picture of the fruit or vegetable as a close up as well as a far away picture. I think that this aspect of his illustrations is fabulous because it allows the children to see two different view points of the same plant all the while knowing that it is representing the color that they are learning. Over all the illustrations made this book and were beyond fantastic.

[Emily Egbers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book explores the concept of colors, fruit and vegetables. Not only does this book teach colors, but it also teaches how fruits and vegetables grow too (in, on, or above the ground). The colors of the photographs are exactly how they'd appear in nature. The illustrations are pictures taken from a camera. The photos appear so real that they give the reader a sense of taste. At the top left hand corner there is a picture showing the fruit or vegetable before it was picked from its plant and the next page shows a zoomed up image of it. The last page lists the colors, the images used and the name of the fruit or vegetable on the other side of the image. The names of the colors are printed so large that it could be used in a classroom. This book would be best for Kindergarten children and younger. I may use it in my classroom, but I feel there are better books out there that explore the concept of color better. I disliked that when a color was repeated it was not to use it for both a vegetable and fruit, but sometimes would use it for two vegetables/fruits. It would have been better when the author repeated colors to mention a fruit and vegetable that color and to do this for each color mentioned. I also believe that children need more color in a color concept book. Also, the use of a brown pepper and purple beans may be a bit confusing for young children. However, it explored the concept of growing fruit and vegetables very well and I may use the book for that purpose in my classroom.

[Israel Graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Concept Book)In this book children learned the concept of colors. The illustrations were simple photographs of frutis and vegetables. I believe that this book would be best for very young children since the photos are very simple and there is very little (almost no) text. I think if the photos of the fruits and vegetables were a little more elaborate and filling the page more would have improved the quality of the book overall. There was a photo of yellow squash to of course represent yellow but there was more green in the photo than there was yellow and I found that it would have been better if there was a larger yellow squash shown or atleast more squash shown than green vines. It was important that there were more than just the colors in the rainbow that were shown such as brown,tan,black and white. I did not like though that there were colors that were repeated, which is fine, but if colors were going to be repeated then there should have been a change in whether it was a fruit or vegetable. For example, instead of having two yellow vegetables there should have been one yellow vegatable and one yellow banana. Also if there was going to be double of any color then there should've been double examples for every color! I enjoyed the overall concept of the book, relating colors to fruits and vegetables that children will see everyday in real life.

[Jessica Floyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Growing Colors by Bruce McMullin is about the different colors of plants you may find at the farm. When you first look at the cover you notice that the word color has each letter in a different color, but if you look closer it is actually fruits and vegetables that are making the colors. I think the cover could have been better to catch the readers eye. When you open the book and start reading you will quickly realize that the color word is on one page and the fruit or vegetable matching that word is on the other page. I think this book could have benefited by having more text within the book. It only has color words and while that is important for helping children learn their colors, young students will lose attention very easily.

If i were to use this book in the classroom I would have it available for the students to view on their own terms. The students can look at the pictures which are actual photographs of different plants. I think the students would benefit from learning about all the different colors. After my students have learned all the colors I would then use this book to help my students learn about different plants that grow on a farm. This book could easily be used for a science lesson that is easy to understand for young students.

[Meghan Klyczek · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a find! The book cover is initially what drew me into this book. The book cover was already so full of colors! From the title "Growing Colors" and the leave in the top left hand corner, I could tell that his book was going to be about plants and vegetables. I don't know, I just had a feeling! As I turned the first page, I was expecting cartoon illustrations, but boy was I wrong! The pictures used for each color were absolutely astounding! SOOO zoomed in on an actual fruit or vegetable. I could almost taste some of the food! The illustrations really gave to my sense. What I also truly loved was in the top left hand corner of the left page, it showed the fruit or vegetable before it was picked from it's plant. That was really neat so see along with the zoomed in illustration of the fruit or vegetable. The book goes through all of the colors and many, many fruits and vegetables.
The pictures are what make the book, though. If this was presented and read to Kindergartners or First graders, they would just eat it up! They would love looking at the illustrations. The words of the colors are printed so large that this book could be used as a teaching lesson as well! Ultimately, a great find for the younger grades in an elementary school.

[Hana Sm. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes a person want to eat more vegetables & fruit!! For each main color of the rainbow, the author has a beautiful, luscious photograph of a vegetable or fruit. Example: For the color green, he shows you luscious green peas in pods! For the color purple, he shows you juicy purple plums hanging on the vine! I like the fact that the author acknowledges in-between colors like "tan" to show a photograph of a cantaloupe. This is the list of colors and foods: Red raspberries, Orange carrots, Yellow squash, Green peas, Blue berries, Purple beans, Tan cantaloupe, Orange oranges, Brown peppers, White onions, Purple plums, Yellow corn, Red potatoes, and Black berries.
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I would use this book to spring into the topic of adjectives. The author uses pictures to show the foods: a group of students could learn how to use words to describe a person or thing when a picture isn't available.

[Emily McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing Colors by Bruce McMillan is a great book for very young children. It shows children colors while associating them with photographs of fruits and vegetables (items that grow). So although a child may not know the particular plant that is being shown for the color, they are gaining that knowledge and will be able to recognize it if they were to come across it at the store. He also shows multiple pictures for the same color. For example he used yellow twice and showed squash and corn. He used common fruits and veggies that children would be able to recognize. At the end of the book McMillan lists all the colors he used images for, put the image he used next to the word of the color and put the name of the fruit or vegetable on the other side of the image. I loved that he did this because this not only teaches children their colors but it also teaches them different fruits and vegetables.

[Kimberlee Gutterman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is excellent in teaching young readers how to identify colors. It also promotes healthy foods like vegetables which is very good for children to learn about. This type of book possesses the characteristic of predictable books that is called familiar concept. The concept in this book is the colors. The children should already know what colors are but this book can teach them how to read color words or identify colors more easily. Some of the pictures were confusing to me because they contained more than the color that was on the page. As an adult, I can basically ignore the other colors that aren't mentioned on a page but for the young readers I think this may be a problem they have with looking at the pictures. One thing I enjoyed very much about the pictures is that it had a picture of food and also a picture if how it grows. For example, it had a picture of an orange for the food and color and it had a picture of an orange tree so children can learn about how food grows.

[Madison Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing Colors featured the different colors found in plants in nature. The cover shows a leaf and the title in block letters. The block letters show different plants in them. Each page shows on the left a small image of a type of plant or bush. At the bottom is the color of the plant spelled out and in that color. For example, the color red shows an image of a raspberry bush. On the right side of the page is a close up of the image. The page shows a close up of a stem of raspberries and its vivid color. The book is 31 pages and featuring the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, tan, brown, black, and white. Some colors are also repeated. McMillian's photos are vivid and in great focus. The photos clearly represent the colors represented. This book is great for students to look at during centers or on their own. This book is well suited for kindergarteners.

[Laken Doom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Growing Colors by Bruce McMillan is a concept book that I found really beneficial. I would use this book with very young children PreK-K possibly even before that. It incorporates colors that are found within fruits or vegetables which helps relate colors to things we see in everyday life. The children would be introduced to every color and see real pictures of the foods. The pictures inside the book were 2 per color. The picture first showed the fruit or vegetable as a plant, the second photo showed a close up of the food. I would use this as a read aloud with one child and then also use it to see where the student is at in learning their colors and you could also use for older children as they learn different fruits and vegetables.

[Emily Pandilidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Growing Colors by: Bruce McMillan is an example of a concept book. This book is about colors, fruits and vegetables. McMillan does a nice job of using fruits and vegetables to differentiate between the different colors. The real photographed images help enhance the text about which color is being demonstrated. If McMillan were too use drawings the colors could become diluted, so it is refreshing that he uses real photographs and helps children connect colors to real world things. On the last page of the book is a list of fruits and a list of vegetables helping children learn what food group the pictures throughout the book belong too.

[Ward :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book teaches the concept of colors using vegetables and fruits to demonstrate. Hence, the title "growing colors" fits. In each page, 2 photo pictures are displayed and a range of primary and secondary colors are introduced. The layout of the pictures is not the most visually pleasing yet the pictures themselves are HD quality. One close up picture of the fruit or vegetable and another picture of how it looks while growing would be a good reference to use when not only teaching about colors yet also on different grown foods. It is a very quick read and would be good for very early learners.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very simple color book with delectable photographs of fruit and vegetables. I love that it not only shows you the final product (a ripe blueberry) but it also shows you a picture of where it grows (a blueberry bush, before the berries have ripened.) My only quibble about a couple of the more creative choices such as purple beans and brown peppers. As an adult, I know that these varieties exist, but my son really gets confused.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really simple book that introduces colors. Each page shows a beautiful, close-up photograph of a fruit or vegetable and an accompanying picture of it growing (in the ground, on a bush, on a tree, etc.) The only text is the color words. This is great for babies. My son really enjoyed helping me turn the pages and staring at the pictures.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read aloud to reinforce colors and the names of fruits and vegetables. I like how there are pictures of the fruit and veggies growing too so students can see if they grow in rows, bushes, or trees.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minimal text, crisp, bright colors, and food for thought give this easy reading picture book depth. Kids will realize just how many colors (and more) are found right under our noses in nature.

Used for "GO Green!" storytime: April, 2011.

[Naomi]

This is a fun book full of pictures of various plants of many colors. There are no words, just the color written out. It would be fun to read and discuss before a unit on plants. It could also be used to help show that fruits and vegetables grow in different places (in, on, or above the ground).

[Olugbemisola Ogutuga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Growing colors is filled with colorful pictures of fruits and vegetables, brilliantly red raspberries, bright-orange carrots, luscious purple plums, and vivid green beans.
Children will learn that fruits and vegetables grow in a variety of colors.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good book to teach with and if you have a preschool teaching background like me, you'll understand why. With so many colors and veggies it's an easy book to work with. My 7 year old LOVES it. It's a VERY simple book but she's a farmer at heart so we read it over and over again.

[Jamie Tedesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for earlier readers still learning their colors. I liked the use of foods but felt that some children might not even know what they are and the brown pepper through me off. I've never seen a brown pepper.