Color

by Ruth Heller

Vibrant colors and transparent overlays show young readers the world of color printing, from pencils, markers and paints used to create art. Five transparencies.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science

40 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Author and illustration with a passionate interest in Korean culture. She lives with her husband in San Francisco, California.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and informative book on colors. The cover art is somewhat deceptive and I feared that the narrative might be too young for our girls. But my fear was unwarranted and they really liked the book. Like many of Ruth Heller's books, the narrative is rhyming and the illustrations are vividly colorful.

But what this book also offers is a solid explanation of the layering of four basic colors on white paper (yellow, magenta, cyan and black) on white paper to create all of the necessary shades for color pictures. She also explains the concept of using pixels to create an image and the differences between tints and shades. We loved the explanation of color opposites and the exercise of staring at an object and then looking at a white page and seeing the objects illuminated in its opposite color.

Overall, we really enjoyed reading this book together and we all learned something new about the use of color and palette. We loved the transparent acetate pages that help to show the layers of colors that work together to create a printed image on a page.

[Jessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great way for kids to learn about colors; about their hues, tints, shades, and the color wheel. It also tells kids about the printing process. It's very interactive, and I would recommend to any young child!

[Kelci Cox-Griswold · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be great to teach young students about colors. It could also be used for older students because it teaches about mixing colors to make new ones. It identifies the primary and secondary colors. It could be fun to use to introduce a painting project.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful book to discuss how colors are mixed and make new colors and how colored pictures are printed. I know it sounds boring but this is truly a wonderful book.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Ruth Heller's illustrations so I had high expectations for this book. I was really excited about it including 5 transparent overlays and was hugely disappointed. It is more about how the colors show up when printing images and 4 of the 5 overlays are all for one picture of a woman taking a bite from a hat. It was not what I expected. If you want to know about printer ink colors and how images show up on the page you can see that in this book. If you want to show your child colors and how one mixing with another creates a new color this barely touches on that and only in the sphere of yellow, magenta, cyan mixes. It does briefly introduce tint, shade, warm, and cool colors.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruth Heller explains how color is printed in books and appears on screens by using three primary colors and black. She explains the terms tint, achromatic, cool colors, warm colors, primary and secondary colors, complimentary colors...and does it all in rhyme. The book concludes with overlays in each of the three basic colors plus black to show how they combine to make a more colorful illustration.

This is quite impressive. Heller covers so much adequately in just a few pages. Highly recommended to art teachers.

[Cheryl]

Does not work at all on openlibrary; it needs the transparent pages apparently. Font is awfully small, too, and rhyme forced. Might be a good inclusion in a rich unit on light & color & color printing if you can get a library copy.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this during a post impressionist lesson to illustrate how pointillism has inspired modern creatives.

[Hannah Guerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fun, interactive non fiction book is great for kids in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. It gives a step by step explanation of the different colors used in printing, how they are different, and how they mix together. It includes fun transparent changes that help readers get a good understanding of the mixing of colors. This book has educational and artistic themes.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes color overlay

www.hcpl.net

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great explanation in pictures and overlays for the way picture books are printed. Will make you understand your printer better!

[Donalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An accessible explanation of color and the processes used to mix and print them. Includes several color overlays.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book for reinforcing primary and secondary color--also good explanation of how printers work. My kids like this one.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fine book. Not Heller's best though - I liked it but my child got bored. I don't think most small children care that much about laser printers.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this one!!!! FANTASTIC illustrations!!!!

[Lindsay Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches you about mixing and blending colors, also about complimentary colors. The book is a good book for students to learn about what happens when you mix colors with certain colors. If you are teaching about complimentary colors or the colors on the color wheel you can use this book.

[Sophia Amborn]

This is a fun interaction book that does a good job teaching about the concept of color and how images are printed for a book. It is a fun learning book that I think would go well for K-2nd graders. It is an easy read and a book that can be implemented in a lesson that deals with color.