Every Color

by Erin Eitter Kono

A simple story about a bear, that meets a girl, who introduces him to the world, and changes how he sees; everything.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Travel, Friendship, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2016

About the author

Erin is an award winning author and illustrator. She studied Art History at the University of Iowa and the University of Hull in England. She studied Graphic Design and Writing through UCLA Extension in Westwood, CA.

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this book was very good.

It's about a polar bear who lives at the North Pole.

Bear lived at the top of the world.
He was surrounded by white ice and white snow, and he longed for color.

We see that all animals in the North Pole are white, for some reason. Even the walruses?!?! This book has lost me already.

His seagull friend flies to a girl, who improbably wears a little white animal outfit all the time... o.O, and she sends the polar bear a painting of a rainbow.

It was the most amazing thing Bear had ever received.

But the gift didn't take away his discontent.

The girl realizes she will have to go to him. So she sails to the North Pole.

"Come with me," said the girl when she finally reached Bear. "I know where to find what you need."

So the bear and the girl sail off together. They visit each part of the world, and each part of the world is colored differently. Holland and England are red. France is orange. Italy and Greece are yellow. India and Egypt are green. China and Australia are blue. Chile, Brazil, and the United States of America are purple. Really we are seeing Bear's paintings of these places. Maybe? That's my only explanation.

The girl trimmed her sails and returned Bear to the icy north.

Bear's friends have displayed all his paintings of the world.

Bear sees the Aurora Borealis and realizes color has been at the North Pole all along, he just didn't see it.

THE END



What the fuck!?!?!? What the fuck was that all about?!!!? Colors were always there, he just needed to learn how to see them?!?!!? I just don't get it. I don't get it. If Kono has a message, I fail to see what it is. If the bear is too stupid to see color, I don't know how to solve that problem either. Unclear why he couldn't see the Aurora Borealis until he went around the world. o.O


PROS:

- Nice illustrations.

- Girl is not a white girl. Not sure what race / ethnicity she is, but she's brown.

- Could be used as an illustration of famous world sites. Of course, they are all shaded in weird colors, but the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wall of China etc. are all pictured. You could talk to kids about different countries and their famous landmarks.




CONS:

- The book makes no fucking sense.

- The book insists on making all animals at the North Pole white, even though that is not true.


Tl;dr - This book is not really worth reading. It's just okay.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A white bear living in the arctic longs for something he doesn't know is missing until a young girl takes him on a world wide journey where he is introduced to color. I didn't like the colors weren't named. Sweet story. Toddler and up.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute book with nice illustrations. I hate to sound knit-picky, but kids who read picture books are learning new things. There is no such thing as a seagull, there are however gulls. We need to teach children the proper names so that we can break of cycle of misinformation.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The contrast of white and rainbow colors was visually appealing, but the text did not excite me. I thought it was a bit awkward. I miss how the trip around the world helped Bear see the Northern Lights.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl takes a polar bear on a colorful journey.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone needs color in their lives, including polar bears! My favorite part was how the paintings he made throughout his travels were all hanging, lined up at the end, telling a story.

[Casandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl shows a polar bear the world, in all of its colorful beauty.
Colors

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one, but it could have been more. Looking at other reviews, there are a lot of objections to this one: the literal-ness of the all white animals at the North Pole, the seagulls at the Pole, etc. I didn't mind those so much - the whiteness of the North Pole made the colors more striking in other pictures. Simply adding in the names of the colors as Bear traveled would probably have earned another star in my opinion. It's a little more subdued a story, too, though it is a good reflection on friendship, even friends who are far away. As it is, it's almost a metaphorical tale instead of a preschool color-themed picture book. Maybe I'm in a point in my life where I need that message ('color is there in your life if you look') but I liked it. As a storytime picture book, though, it could have used a little more.

It still made a decent storytime read, though. The spare text left openings for a lot of discussion. The kids called out the colors as Bear traveled, and we named some of the things that were shown in each color. Not the landmarks specifically (preschoolers don't usually recognize cathedrals or the Great Wall) but "buildings," "hills," "buses," etc. As a one-on-one read, you could also talk about the landmarks that Bear sees with the girl. It could be a good addition to travel or friendship-themed storytimes too.

In short, it's a sweet and rather quiet story with pretty (though not breathtaking) illustrations. There are diverse settings and a not-white lead character (where the girl is from isn't specified). It could use a little more to make it a great book (naming colors, for example) but it's still a good one to include in a storytime or one-on-one read.

[Arlene Arroyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Every Color” written by Erin Eitter Kono is about a polar bear who longed for color because all he saw was white. Until one day a seagull brought him a letter from a girl that contained a colorful rainbow which he enjoyed, but it wasn’t enough. The girl received a letter from Bear and she made a trip to him so she can take him to see colors. After seeing so much color in various different places, he finally realized that his home had every color of the rainbow all along. Using Perry Nodelman’s essay, “Decoding the Images: How Picturebooks Work,” we can see how little is being said but how much the illustrations allow us to see. For example, we can see how happy Bear is to be traveling seeing a multitude of bright colors that he longed for all this time. We can also see how extremely pleased he was seeing his friends waiting for him to welcome him back home. This picture book demonstrates how we should look deeper around our surroundings to see what we never have before and we find find what was there all along and for Bear it was color. Using color as a metaphor is great idea to get children engaged and learn about the lesson being taught. Various colors being on focus can teach young children to connect colors to the name of the color as well.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kono, Erin Eitter Every Color. PICTURE BOOK. Dial Books For Young Readers (Penguin), 2016 $16.99.

Bear is lonely up north where it is white as far as the eye can see. His winter animal friends devise a plan to cheer him up. Bear needs some color. His friend Seagull sends for a little girl to come and take Bear on a colorful world-wide adventure. When Bear returns to his northern home of white, he realizes it was full of color all along, he just needed someone to help him see it.

This story not only introduces the different colors of the rainbow, but shows children the different animals living in northern climates. It even gives children a great introduction to some famous destinations around the world. The illustrations are beautifully drawn and matched to highlight the places Bear visits with a color that best represents what you will see there.

Pre-K, EL (K-3)--ESSENTIAL Gina, Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

diverse picture book (colors, travelling, friendship, pen pals ; preschool ages 3 and up)
* Features diverse characters: a bear makes friends with one little girl (who happens to have dark skin and straight black hair). They travel the world together but the other people they encounter (in London) are relegated to the background and not prominently portrayed.
* Suitable for preschool storytime: yes, this is a subdued, quieter story for a crowd who is accustomed to sitting through circle time. The illustrations are not overly large but they are colorful.
*would work for a "colors" theme or a "travel" theme or a "pen pals / friendship" theme.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this has been around for 3.5 years, it is new to us (and new, apparently, to our library system, too...). Bear lives at the North Pole, surrounded by white and shades of grey, but he longs to see the colors of the world. When a friend appears and pulls him away in her skiff, the two embark on a journey around the world. I love how Kono has tied introducing children to landmarks around the world (information can be found about each spread on the copyright page), as well as shown Bear sending mail to his friends from each stop on his journey. And, be sure to spend time with the Northern Lights spread!

[Amy Goldstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is lovely! At it's core, it's a friendship story about a girl who shows a polar bear the wide colorful world. Through colors you see landmarks from all over the world. I have many students interested in geography and I know they would love identifying all the landmarks and where they are from. Layers of lessons in this book.

[Madi Harenza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Color is a sweet book about friendship and kindness. However, it is not very engaging for readers. It is a good resource for discussing colors and identifying them, but other than that, there is not much that it can be used for. While reading it, I felt captivated by the bear and young girl's friendship, but bored with the plot and storyline.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I totally dig this book! It was white all white. Can you imagine a life like that! So Bear goes to see the world..and all the colors can be found in the world! Great illustrations and lots of color! Could be a travel book, could be a color book, could be a bedtime story! Great fun!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classmate of mine read this book and told me to read it. It was a great read and had such a good message about seeing the world and the colors that it brings. The pictures keep you drawn to this book.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"She understood that he looked for color, but could not see it."

Our world is full of color if we will only stop for a minute and see them. But sometimes you have to step outside your own world and experience things from a new perspective in order to see the world differently at home

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had so much fun with this! Trying to recognize all the places in the illustrations. Enjoying the way each page was a different colour. That the polar bear learned to appreciate colour through painting. And Kait is so interested in seeing the Northern Lights.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. The illustrations are gorgeous in this story of a bear who sails around the world, in order to appreciate what he has home.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but the bear's journey didn't seem related to how his problem eventually got solved.

[Katie Douglas]

Author: Erin Eitter Kono
Illustrator: Erin Eitter Kono
Publisher: Dial Books
Copyright: 2016
Keywords: polor bear, colors
Target Audience: 1st grade read aloud

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art for this book is just so beautiful that it earns 4 stars on that alone. I wish the story had as much of an impact.

[Carrie Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids liked seeing what places they recognized and knew.

[Samantha]

bear storytime

[Bridgitte Rodguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute. Great concept. Nice pictures.!

[Theo Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another FAVE 🩵 I love looking at all the colors and places around the world! Maybe one day I’ll visit them all!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a gorgeous look at the rainbow of life.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loved it. Illustrations are beautiful and shows so many famous historic sites.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and beautiful, as children's books should be.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Themes: colors, friendship