The Deep Blue Sea: A Book of Colors

by Audrey Wood, Bruce Wood (Illustrator)

Bestselling author Audrey Wood and artist son Bruce create a cumulative concept book about colors, with more of the vivid imagery that has made their alphabet books so successful!

Readers will love learning their colors with this brightly illustrated, cumulative picture book by bestselling author Audrey Wood and her dynamic, digital-artist son, Bruce. Starting with a rock, a red rock, in the middle of the deep blue sea, the story takes a closer look at this tropical locale. The simple, repetitive text makes for a fun read-aloud for storytime or sharing, and identifying the vivid images and strong colors provides an exciting concept learning experience for young readers.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Nature, Fiction, Animals, School

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Audrey Wood studied art and drama at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has owned an operated a book and import store, taught chldren's drama and art, and traveled throughout Mexico and Guatemala studying Indian folk art. She now lives in Hawaii with her talented family (husband Don and son Bruce, who have both collaborated with Audrey by illustrating some of her books).

Reviews

[Tyler Piers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lack of depth for the deep blue see. It’s more than just a place to have random palm trees.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! Immediately I thought of the feltboard possibility with this book. The building nature of the story, the colors the kids are learning, and the objects they are mostly familiar with will be great. And it uses the word "fishies." Totally has me! I'll just have to get some felt stuffs ready and we're good to go!!

4/14/11 Fabulous. With both groups. Instead of felt, I printed out coloring pages (of varying sizes) for each of the items in the story. Then I spent last night coloring with my 20+ year-old-crayons--and having a blast! I think preparing those made me even more excited about the book. Kids and parents enjoyed seeing the different pieces get taped onto the board. They definitely liked the building technique of the story. And all loved the rainbow at the end. I will also admit that I couldn't help it: in the second group, during the partial lull while I put up my 3 colored fishies (and before we did "a fishie dance"), I asked them to say, "Heeeeeeere, fishie, fishie, fishie!! Ah, Sesame Street.

5/1/13 & 5/2/13: Perfect for my "Time for School" theme. I had forgotten that I had my "feltboard" story. Both groups liked it, and some kids in each (but especially on my Thursday) picked up on the repetitive "deep blue sea". No one quite got the fun of calling the fishies, though they obliged me and still did it. I had them pat their legs to make the rain--and they LOVED that! Everyone loved the rainbow at the end. To enhance the experience, I had them look around to see who was wearing the different colors we were reading about. They really enjoyed that, too--especially got the quiet, shy ones to participate.

1/23/16 Used in Special Needs storytime. Used my feltboard. Handed out the pieces and them (or the older sibling who kind of took over) bring them up to be put on the board. Not bad.

[Ollie Skyba · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure how old the author’s son was when he created these illustrations (read about that on Goodreads), but honestly - they just don’t work for me.
Of course, every book can find its audience, but in this case, it feels like something that might be better kept within the family circle. Maybe a future edition could keep the story and pair it with a different illustrator?..

[Debbie Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read the deep blue sea. Its calm, its nice and relaxing. It will almost make you fall a sleep. That's what I believe. The first reason to read this book its very cute Its very own calm and personal. Also the colors appeal to your eyes, its so pretty. For example two of the colors were brown, the other one is purple. It was calm in its own style. Another reason you should read this book is its about the deep blue sea. You would gasp at the end amazing page of happiness and love. For example the island becomes even better when you turn those pages of joyness. I wish you could be on the island of sun. In my opinion, I say when everyone sees the book deep blue sea, you should get it. That's what I prefer for me and you. Sloan

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are saturated, which color which is perfect, because on a tropical island the air can feel saturated as well. This is a fun story that continues to grow on each page. It's a perfect interactive book to read to little ones because they can so easily fill in parts of the story.

* Have you ever wanted to go to a tropical island? Why or why not? What's your favorite color? Why?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tip: Missing your tropical island? Try diffusing 3 drops of doTERRA's Lime & 2 drops Bergamot essential oil. We think you'll like the uplift it gives your enviorenment!

[Alma Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story book written by the award winning author, Audrey Wood. This book fits great for kids around the ages of 3 to 5 years old. This book teaches children the colors while describing various things that one can find in the deep blue sea. I gave it 4 stars because it does successfully teach all the colors while visually showing them through the illustrations or the color of the word. Wood makes sure to specifically change the color of the words to the color they are talking about in the book. Every single line on every single page talks about a specific color and it is even portrayed in the creative illustrations.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

"There's the sea, the deep blue sea. There's a rock, a red rock in the middle of the deep blue sea. There's a tree, a green tree on a red rock in the middle of the deep blue sea." With a sing-song rhythm, this book introduces colors in interesting ways, though it lost my kids' attention early on. I'm not a fan of digitally created art work, though the sparse landscape pages worked well for this style.

[Lady Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to help teach young children their colors.
This book is wonderfully illustrated and well written.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly book about the colors of a rainbow.

[Adynah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book for K-1 students learning rhythmic patterns and high-frequency words!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an average book. Good repeating rhyme for children learning to read.

[Library Lady Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy the vibrancy of the illustrations in this book!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book that describes the colors of things on a small island. The illustrations are bold and creative.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn't like the art style, lost a star for that...

[Addie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun! 2 year old liked it too

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cumulative story about a red rock in the middle of the deep blue sea...and everything that's on that red rock!

Storytime:
Colors

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wood, Audrey. The Deep Blue Sea. Scholastic, 2005.

This notable book reveals common objects that match their colors very well. This allows the early reader to relate to the familiar objects like a rock, tree, butterfly and the sea. Children will love to learn their colors through the bright digitally illustrated pictures done by the author’s son, Bruce Wood. The text is simple and repetitive so that the preschooler or kindergartner can participate in the story’s engaging and repeating words that match the colorful entities on the island. A fun read aloud for young readers to learn their colors. Target Audience: ages 2-6.
(Beginning Book - Concept - Colors)

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a simple book, but wonderfully done. I found it sitting on our coffee table. I imagine it belongs in my son's room.

This is a repetitive book. There's a blue sea. There's a red rock on the blue sea. There's a green tree on the red rock on the blue sea, etc.

The accompanying illustrations are vibrant. Fish appear. A rainbow shows up. As does a cloud and rain.

This is a good book for toddlers/younger children who are learning their colors and/or reading.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are absolutely amazing. There isn't really a storyline to the book--it's very simple and repetitive, so it's a great one to use with really young kids. After the first few pages, they can really help "read" the story. I always get distracted by the illustrations, though.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. The way it introduced colors to the younger elementary aged students was very well done. The idea of repetition was also done in a way for the students to remember and visualize very well. I would use this in a kindergarten class when reviewing or learning colors. The illustrations were so simple yet stood out so well.

[funny dot J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is an excellent book for early readers. The drawings are bright and engaging. The words are simple, repetitive, and describing colors and common objects such as a rock, sea, butterfly - things that kids are familiar with. Some words like "red" and "blue", are colored accordingly, making it fun and easy for kids to read.

[Jana Clegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this with Sadie because of the pattern of the text. Sadie wanted me to read over and over and over again. She got to where she could finish the sentences for me when I would pause to see if she would do just that. Not only that but she is learning her colors. This is a great book!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Deep Blue Sea: A Book of Colors is a beginners book that focuses on teaching children their colors. The book describes an island in the sea with specific color descriptions. In the text each color word in the text is written in its designated color.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This very simple book that focuses primarily on color recognition, employs consistent repetition and vivid, colorful illustrations to enrich the text. It is an effective read-aloud selection for younger grades and worked well for kindergarten and first grade classes.

[Sarah Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was doing an ocean theme with my Kindergartner, so I grabbed this one for my toddler. He LOVED it. The illustrations are enjoyable and vibrant and I love the way it's repetitive, but also "builds". Great concept book on colors!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for ocean or colors storytime.

It would be a great book to point to the featured item and let the kid(s) say the color; not only are they learning/reinforcing their knowledge of colors, but they are helping to "read" the book!

[Joelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both of my kids (now 4 and 2) LOVE this book. They have it memorized. It's definitely one of our favorites.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The the bright colors and the rhythm of the book.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like the Woods books but this one is low down on my list. Nice bright colors but the story and illustrations didn't do much for me.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

not standard color book, this one builds a story on on island using bright bold illustrations.