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Roses are Red, Are Violets Blue??
Rhymes and prose identify the basic colors and describe what happens when they are combined.
- GenresPicture Books
32 pages, Paperback
Published August 12, 1973
31 people want to read
About the author
Alice Provensen
83 books48 followersAlice Provensen collaborated with her late husband, Martin, on numerous highly acclaimed picture books, including the Caldecott Medal-winning The Glorious Flight and Nancy Willard's Newbery Medal-winning A Visit to William Blake's Inn, which was also a Caldecott Honor Book. The Provensens have been on the New York Times list of the Ten Best Illustrated Books eight times.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 13, 2021
I've been packing up books for nine consecutive nights now, and tonight I made it to one of my very favorite shelves: my childhood books, almost all of them published at some point in the 1970s.
This part is packing, not purging. . . oh, and it's also pausing. Where I paused this evening: to read this one.
How precious every page of this now out-of-print book is to me. It was so “hip” at the time, a book about colors that made kids think, and it was funny, too, like the early episodes of Sesame Street used to be.
I love that the little girl has that fab, straight, seventies hair (like Marcia Brady) and rose-colored glasses, and the boy has “yellow” hair, instead of “blonde” hair. (When “he lets his yellow hair fall over his eyes” they turn green).
I still remember “A Recipe for Traffic Jam:”
Take a red car.
Take a blue car.
Take a yellow car.
Take a big purple car.
Take a little black car.
Add a green bug.
Mix well.
Beat the yellow light, then. . .
OOPS! INSTANT BROWN GRAVY!
This book is imperfect in the most perfect way, and I can't read it without remembering how very little I was when I first loved it.
This part is packing, not purging. . . oh, and it's also pausing. Where I paused this evening: to read this one.
How precious every page of this now out-of-print book is to me. It was so “hip” at the time, a book about colors that made kids think, and it was funny, too, like the early episodes of Sesame Street used to be.
I love that the little girl has that fab, straight, seventies hair (like Marcia Brady) and rose-colored glasses, and the boy has “yellow” hair, instead of “blonde” hair. (When “he lets his yellow hair fall over his eyes” they turn green).
I still remember “A Recipe for Traffic Jam:”
Take a red car.
Take a blue car.
Take a yellow car.
Take a big purple car.
Take a little black car.
Add a green bug.
Mix well.
Beat the yellow light, then. . .
OOPS! INSTANT BROWN GRAVY!
This book is imperfect in the most perfect way, and I can't read it without remembering how very little I was when I first loved it.
August 19, 2025
Very colorful and just a little odd.
Learn colors with a little girl and boy as they start with first one color and then another, combining some to make another.
It’s not quite prose, though it’s laid out as such, and ends with a question.
One of the last pictures shows cartoon men with various colored faces, “red with rage” “green with envy” etc., showing how colors are used to describe moods.
Ages: 2 - 5
Here’s some fun ideas and our book favs: watch my reel!
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
Learn colors with a little girl and boy as they start with first one color and then another, combining some to make another.
It’s not quite prose, though it’s laid out as such, and ends with a question.
One of the last pictures shows cartoon men with various colored faces, “red with rage” “green with envy” etc., showing how colors are used to describe moods.
Ages: 2 - 5
Here’s some fun ideas and our book favs: watch my reel!
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
February 15, 2008
I actually wrote a college paper on this book, from the angle that these poems are written to have children challenge the world's way of thinking. The poem about violet's being blue, is great, with the end being "Violets are...violet! That's something I know something about. Signed, your's truly, The Rainbow Trout". I got an A on my paper. I still have the book.
December 5, 2021
A book to introduce children to all the colors they might see.
I would personally use this book in my classroom. It has so many fun rhymes and pictures for every color and will really keep the students engaged in the learning. I think this book is of quality informational text, it gives information about colors that students might see. I think the clever rhymes will keep the students engaged in the story and learning about the colors.
Future Educators!
An activity that you can do with your students is to have them point out the different colors they see within the classroom. You can also do the color song, where the students will stand up if the color they're wearing is said in the song.
I would personally use this book in my classroom. It has so many fun rhymes and pictures for every color and will really keep the students engaged in the learning. I think this book is of quality informational text, it gives information about colors that students might see. I think the clever rhymes will keep the students engaged in the story and learning about the colors.
Future Educators!
An activity that you can do with your students is to have them point out the different colors they see within the classroom. You can also do the color song, where the students will stand up if the color they're wearing is said in the song.
April 1, 2015
Alice and Martin Provensen wrote an outstanding book that I remembered reading back in the 1984-1985 school year. At that time, I was around 6 and 7 years of age. This colorful book, made in 1973, is a must-read for everyone!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews