Sylvie

by Jennifer Sattler

Meet a flamingo of a different stripe!

“Mama, why are we pink?” asks an ever-curious young flamingo named Sylvie. Like Leo Lionni’s chameleon in  A Color of His Own , Sylvie comes to learn that being yourself is the best thing to be. When she learns that it’s due to the little pink brine shrimp they eat, Sylvie takes the maxim “You are what you eat!” to a whole new level. Her new diet leads to some very interesting new looks—from scarlet to stripey to positively purple!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Birds, Food, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jennifer Sattler is the author and illustrator of several picture books including Sylvie, Chick 'n' Pug, Pig Kahuna, Chick 'n' Pug Meet the Dude, Uh-oh, Dodo!, and her latest, Pig Kahuna Pirates. After several years of teaching college students, she realized that her "inner goofball" needed to come out. Once she started making books for children, she was hooked. "I really am a 5-year old at heart," she says. "These are my people!"

Reviews

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun tale of Sylvie the flamingo who wonders why she is pink. Once her mama explains that it is because she and her flamingo family eat pink shrimp, an idea is born. Sylvie tries eating all manner of different colored food and object and enjoys the novelty until she is too full and no longer feels like herself. A sweet story of appreciating new things while valuing the characteristics that make a person special. It was a hit during pre-k storytime paired with "A Bad Case of Stripes" and "Spoon".

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a delight! A little girl was wearing a dress with flamingoes on it to story time today so I just had to grab this one! Sylvie is a flamingo who discovers that she is pink because she eats pink shrimp. Applying the principle that she will turn the color of anything she eats, she begins on an adventure to try on all sorts of different colors. This results in feeling unwell! To get back to pink she cleanses with some shrimp. But will she be able to give up experimenting?
#colorourworld

[Sirinasilayan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir flamingo rengini merak ediyor ve annesine soruyor annesi diyor ki yediğimiz karı dersler pembe olduğu için rengimiz pembe diyor flamingonun aklına bir fikir geliyor ve bir şeyler yemeye başlıyor Böylece rengi değişiyor Flamingo sonundan kendisinin farklı olduğunu düşünüyor ve tekrar karides yemeye başlıyor küçük bir dokunuşla.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Sylvie

[Jeimy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super cute book in which Sylvie discovers her pink coloring is due to her diet and decides to see if she can change her appearance by trying out different things. Ultimately Sylvie learns a lesson about what happens when we are not true to ourselves.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

When little flamingo Sylvie learns she is pink because of the pink shrimp she eats, she tries eating new foods, wondering if she will change colors. Sure enough, grapes turn her purple, palm leaves leave her green, and with a few bites of a paisley swimsuit, she is patterned from foot to feathers. Changing colors is so much fun--will Sylvie ever go back to pink?

Sattler's illustrations of the big-eyed Sylvie are the real charm of the book, which would fit nicely into a Pre-K curriculum unit on keeping healthy.

On a personal note, Sylvie's changing colors reminded me of a favorite book from my childhood, Put Me in the Zoo!. I loved the way that bear's spots changed color!

[Oana Cerchezan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be a great book to read on the first day of class or during the first week of school. Kids sometimes feel as if they need to be different and just try everything new, and forget to be themselves. This book shows that it is better to be yourself with a unique twist. A great activity to do with the kids would be to talk about what they think makes them so unique. They can show it in any way,for example dancing, making funny faces, drawing it or anything else!

[Patricia Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My agent has asked us to review books of her other clients. The first one I picked up is Sylvie. It's a delight. I love this little flamingo who turns the color of each colorful thing she eats. I love the painterly endpapers and backgrounds. Bravo, Jennifer, I wish I'd thought of this.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the colors! I have mixed feelings about the story, partly because of how it begins with something true to life and then is crazy weird as far as what the flamingo eats and the effects. But I like the ending, how the bird pays attention to how it feels and then lives its truth.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story about being true to yourself.

[Kathleen H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just wonderful! A great book for storytime, wonderful, large, bright illustrations, and amusing (and simple!) text to accompany. Wonderful wonderful!

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun, silly book about a flamingo who's tired of being like all the others. She eats various things to change colors.
Cute story. Lots of giggles.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvie the flamingo learns she is pink because of all the pink shrimp she eats. That makes her wonder: if she ate other things, would she change colors?

[Terrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered why flamingos are pink? Well this book will give you an answer as it explores various colors. A charming book, and charmingly illustrated.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun book. My son reads it over and over, to himself.

[Michelle Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
"Sylvie" begins with a little flamingo named Sylvie. One morning, Sylvie looked around at her entire flamingo family and questioned why they were all pink. Her mom overheard the question and told Sylvie they were pink because of the pink shrimp they eat. Sylvie took the line "you are what you eat" to a whole new level and decided to try eating different things. Throughout the book, Sylvie tries all kinds of food and turns into the color of the food. For example, Sylvie eats grapes and turns purple. Later on in the book, she eats a floral bathing suit and becomes a floral flamingo. At the end of the book, Sylvie realizes she is perfect how she originally was and starts eating shrimp again.

Themes:
The themes of this book are acceptance, self-love, adventure, and family.

Star Rating:
I'm rating this book four stars because I love the fun illustrations and storyline. This book sends children a good message about self-acceptance through the vibrant illustrations and words.

Personal response:
I really enjoyed reading "Sylvie" because it reminded me of my childhood self. Also, I experienced a text-t0-self connection. As a child, I was the only Chinese American in my class. I always asked my mom why all my classmates were blonde with huge eyes. My mom told me everyone is made in their own special way. I took my mom's advice, but I would always try to open my eyes as big as I could or style my hair like the other girls. Additionally, I wanted to wear the exact same clothes as my blonde best friend, so I could "blend" in better. However, today I'm happy with how I look and how God made me. Sylvie was a mirror to my childhood because I could empathize with her trying to wear different personas to be something else. My favorite part of this book is the ending because Sylvie felt comfortable in her own skin. I think self-identity and acceptance is a struggle for everyone sometimes in their lives. Even as a 21-year-old, I'm constantly wondering who I really am. I think this book is a fun read for children and adults because everyone will connect with Sylvie in some way. Second, I also loved how Sylvie's parents didn't stop Sylvie from trying new personas. I think this was so cool to witness because they let Sylvie figure out who she was on her own without restricting her. Third, I was amazed by the illustrations and colors on the page. Each page was so exciting to look at advanced the story of Sylvie in a fun, appropriate way. For example, children could probably read the only the illustrations and still understand the plot.

Recommendation:
I recommend this book to Kindergarten through 2nd grade. The illustrations were realistic, yet fun for children to learn the lessons of self-acceptance and adventure. Second, the storyline is simple and every page only has 1-2 sentences on it, so it's not too word heavy for younger children.

[Kathleen Vincent]

Sylvie is a curious flamingo. When she learns that she can change her color by changing what she eats, she experiments with lots of different colors and patterns. In the end, will Sylvie continue to change who she is or will she learn that it's best to be yourself?

This is a great book that I use with my students when first introducing predictions. They quickly learn that Sylvie changes to the same color as what she eats, so it makes predicting an easy task. We discuss what makes a good prediction (using the pictures and words that you've read so far to guess what might happen next) while also learning that readers can make predictions before, during and after reading. I also use this book to teach/review color words at the beginning of the year. We add the color words to the word wall after reading this book.

[Danielle T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly cute until the end- it feels parallel to A Case of Stripes where the protagonist changes color based on her environment, but with the complete opposite ending- Camilla learns that it's ok to be different and when she accepts herself she stops shifting, whereas Sylvie conforms back in to how her family and peers do things (with just a lil dessert at the end to be silly).

H does like to do color prediction here so that's fine; I just emphasize at the end that if Sylvie wanted to be adventurous she still has that option and doesn't *have* to be pink.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Love, Love! This book combines two things that my daughter absolutely loves: colors and flamingos. The little flamingo eats all sorts of things because it makes her change colors. Such a fun idea! The illustrations are so darn cute! We loved every bit on every page! A must read for lovers of colors and flamingos!

[Brandi Kutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvie is a flamingo. She looks at her pink family and everyone else and wonders why she is pink. Mom explains that they are pink because of the pink shrimp they eat. Suddenly, Sylvie has an idea on how to change her pink color and things get a little silly. Super cute book. I read it in a food themed storytime and the kids liked it.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic illustrations, but I don't love the story here. I dislike this kind of mixture of hyper realistic with goofy. I got so excited at the beginning about the factual information regarding shrimp, but it quickly went in the other direction. I guess I just like picture books to be all goofy or mostly factual otherwise I feel its confusing for kids to distinguish the facts from the jokes.

[Keara Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sylvie is a super cute story about a flamingo who tries a variety of different foods, which turn her all different colours. At the end of the day, she realizes that shrimp is best for her with a little dessert in moderation. She's very cute, and this book would be loved by kids aged 3-6. It has well done illustrations as well.

[Alex]

I use this book for predictions. Sylvie the bird wanted to be a different color and she figured out that depending on what she ate would depend on what color her feathers would turn. We use the text to predict from what color she changes with what she could have eaten. This book also helps with the setting with, my first graders.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvie takes "You are what you eat" to a whole new level. When she finds out she's pink because of the shrimp she eats, she starts eating different colored items to change her appearance. But in the end, she doesn't feel like herself anymore.

Love the illustrations.

[Diana Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute story about a young flamingo who tries different foods - and some non-food items - and turns from pink into other colors, and patterns! Charming illustrations, simple text - perfect for Flamingo Storytime for 2s & 3s at the library.

[Cris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest kids book I’ve read in a long time! Bright, colorful pictures!!!

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and clever way to introduce various colors and patterns.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Color storytime fun read