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Verde
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Picture Books (2012) How many kinds of green are there? There's the lush green of a forest on a late spring day, the fresh, juicy green of a just-cut lime, the incandescent green of a firefly, and the vivid aquamarine of a tropical sea.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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2578 people want to read
About the author
Laura Vaccaro Seeger
31 books82 followersLaura Vaccaro Seeger is a New York Times best-selling author and illustrator and the recipient of a 2008 Caldecott Honor, Theodor Seuss Geisel Honors for both 2009 and 2008, a 2007 New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2007 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Best Picture Book. Her books include First the Egg, The Hidden Alphabet, and Dog and Bear, among others.
Raised on Long Island, New York, Seeger began drawing at two years old and never stopped. For as long as she remembers, she wanted to write picture books. She received her B.F.A. degree at the School of Fine Art and Design at SUNY Purchase in Westchester, New York, and then moved to Manhattan, where she worked as an animator, artist, and editor in the network television business.
Seeger lives in Rockville Centre, Long Island, with her husband, Chris, their two sons, Drew and Dylan, and their dog, Copper. She loves painting, surfing, tennis, playing the piano, and spending time with her family. She takes long walks at the beach every day and paints in her studio every night.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/laurav...
Raised on Long Island, New York, Seeger began drawing at two years old and never stopped. For as long as she remembers, she wanted to write picture books. She received her B.F.A. degree at the School of Fine Art and Design at SUNY Purchase in Westchester, New York, and then moved to Manhattan, where she worked as an animator, artist, and editor in the network television business.
Seeger lives in Rockville Centre, Long Island, with her husband, Chris, their two sons, Drew and Dylan, and their dog, Copper. She loves painting, surfing, tennis, playing the piano, and spending time with her family. She takes long walks at the beach every day and paints in her studio every night.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/laurav...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 801 reviews
July 16, 2019
I don’t understand why, but this is already difficult to get at our library and this is a relatively new book.
It’s a wonderful beginning book on the shade of green with fun cut-outs on each page placed perfectly so that the colors do fun things. Stuff like this fascinate the nephew and he has to turn the page back and forth over and over to see how it all lines up. Each page is a different scene and a different shade of green
The niece thought this was cute and she gave it 3 stars while the nephew loved the book and he gave it 5 stars.
It’s a wonderful beginning book on the shade of green with fun cut-outs on each page placed perfectly so that the colors do fun things. Stuff like this fascinate the nephew and he has to turn the page back and forth over and over to see how it all lines up. Each page is a different scene and a different shade of green
The niece thought this was cute and she gave it 3 stars while the nephew loved the book and he gave it 5 stars.
March 14, 2012
Sometimes you just want to show a kid a beautiful picture book. Sometimes you also want that book to be recent. That’s the tricky part. Not that there aren’t pretty little picture books churned out of publishing houses every day. Of course there are. But when you want something that distinguishes itself and draws attention without sparkles or glitter the search can be a little fraught. We children’s librarians sit and wait for true beauty to fall into our laps. The last time I saw it happen was Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion and the Mouse. Now I’m seeing it again with Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Green. I mean just look at that cover. I vacillate between wanting to smear those thick paints with my hands and wanting to lick it to see if it tastes like green frosting. If my weirdness is any kind of a litmus test, kids will definitely get a visceral reaction when they flip through the pages. I know we’re talking colors here but if I were to capture this book in a single word then there's only one that would do: Delicious.
Open the book and the first pictures you see are of a woodland scene. Two leaves hang off a nearby tree as the text reads “forest green”. Turn the page and those leaves, cut into the paper itself, flip over to two fishies swimming in the deep blue sea. A tortoise swims lazily by, bubbles rising from its head (“sea green”). Another page and the holes of the bubbles are turned over to become the raised bumps on a lime. And so it goes with each new hole or cut connecting one kind of green to another. We see khaki greens, wacky greens, slow greens and glow greens until at last Seeger fills the page with boxes filled with different kinds of green. This is followed by a stop sign and the words “never green” against an autumn background. On the next page it is winter and “no green” followed by an image of a boy planting something. The final spread shows a man and his daughter gazing at a tree. The description: “forever green”. You bet.
Can a color be political? Absolutely. In a given election season you’ll see red vs. blue, after all. In children’s books colors would historically be associated with races or countries (hence the flare up around titles like Two Reds). Green occupies a hazy middle ground here. We all know about the Green Party or green activism. However, it’s not as if you’ll find many parents forbidding their children to read this book because it pushes a pro-environment agenda. Seeger is subtler than that. Yes, her book does end with humans planting and admiring trees, but thanks to her literary restraint the message isn’t thwapping you over the head with a tire iron. She could have turned her “no green” two-page spread into some barren landfill-esque wasteland. Instead we see a snow scene. This is followed by the only silent two pages in the book, showing a boy planting a tree. Finally a man and his daughter (presumably the boy grown up since the barn in the background appears to be the same) look up at a fully-grown tree’s foliage as the text reads, “forever green”. It’s a message there for the taking, but only if you're smart enough to spot it.
Ms. Seeger has never quite looked like anybody else. Artistically, I mean. Her style is a unique combination of die-cuts and thick paints on textured backgrounds. If Eric Carle made die-cuts classy, Seeger takes them one step further and makes them an art in and of themselves. No other artist has ever used them to the same degree. Seeger not only understands the inherent drama in the turn of a page, she makes it the lynchpin of her success. In this book you spend part of the time admiring the art, part of the time trying to predict where the die-cuts will appear, and part of the time flipping back and forth between pages so that you can figure out why you couldn’t see the tiger eyes hidden in the wooden table or the fireflies lurking in the leaves. The danger is that the whole book could come off feeling like some enormous gimmick. Instead, you get a sense of interconnectedness. The green of a pea tied into the green of a blade of grass tied into the green of a gecko’s skin. In Green there’s purpose and meaning above beyond how cool it all looks. When you successfully combine those two things you end up with a picture book that crosses over from merely good into the realm of the exceptional.
On the publication page the description of this book says, “Illustrations and simple, rhyming text explore the many shades of the color green.” And while technically true it sort of misses the point of the book. Seeger has quietly shown us a delicate world threatened but enduring. Kids won’t perceive the threat. They’ll just see how many cool things in the world sport an innumerable number of shades of green. They’ll see the cool green of oceans and the nighttime green of uncurled ferns. They’ll see and process and remember the book that made it clear that of all the colors of the rainbow, green is the one we need for life itself. A book that is simultaneously subtle and enormously eye-catching. Call it poetry with purpose.
For ages 4-8.
Open the book and the first pictures you see are of a woodland scene. Two leaves hang off a nearby tree as the text reads “forest green”. Turn the page and those leaves, cut into the paper itself, flip over to two fishies swimming in the deep blue sea. A tortoise swims lazily by, bubbles rising from its head (“sea green”). Another page and the holes of the bubbles are turned over to become the raised bumps on a lime. And so it goes with each new hole or cut connecting one kind of green to another. We see khaki greens, wacky greens, slow greens and glow greens until at last Seeger fills the page with boxes filled with different kinds of green. This is followed by a stop sign and the words “never green” against an autumn background. On the next page it is winter and “no green” followed by an image of a boy planting something. The final spread shows a man and his daughter gazing at a tree. The description: “forever green”. You bet.
Can a color be political? Absolutely. In a given election season you’ll see red vs. blue, after all. In children’s books colors would historically be associated with races or countries (hence the flare up around titles like Two Reds). Green occupies a hazy middle ground here. We all know about the Green Party or green activism. However, it’s not as if you’ll find many parents forbidding their children to read this book because it pushes a pro-environment agenda. Seeger is subtler than that. Yes, her book does end with humans planting and admiring trees, but thanks to her literary restraint the message isn’t thwapping you over the head with a tire iron. She could have turned her “no green” two-page spread into some barren landfill-esque wasteland. Instead we see a snow scene. This is followed by the only silent two pages in the book, showing a boy planting a tree. Finally a man and his daughter (presumably the boy grown up since the barn in the background appears to be the same) look up at a fully-grown tree’s foliage as the text reads, “forever green”. It’s a message there for the taking, but only if you're smart enough to spot it.
Ms. Seeger has never quite looked like anybody else. Artistically, I mean. Her style is a unique combination of die-cuts and thick paints on textured backgrounds. If Eric Carle made die-cuts classy, Seeger takes them one step further and makes them an art in and of themselves. No other artist has ever used them to the same degree. Seeger not only understands the inherent drama in the turn of a page, she makes it the lynchpin of her success. In this book you spend part of the time admiring the art, part of the time trying to predict where the die-cuts will appear, and part of the time flipping back and forth between pages so that you can figure out why you couldn’t see the tiger eyes hidden in the wooden table or the fireflies lurking in the leaves. The danger is that the whole book could come off feeling like some enormous gimmick. Instead, you get a sense of interconnectedness. The green of a pea tied into the green of a blade of grass tied into the green of a gecko’s skin. In Green there’s purpose and meaning above beyond how cool it all looks. When you successfully combine those two things you end up with a picture book that crosses over from merely good into the realm of the exceptional.
On the publication page the description of this book says, “Illustrations and simple, rhyming text explore the many shades of the color green.” And while technically true it sort of misses the point of the book. Seeger has quietly shown us a delicate world threatened but enduring. Kids won’t perceive the threat. They’ll just see how many cool things in the world sport an innumerable number of shades of green. They’ll see the cool green of oceans and the nighttime green of uncurled ferns. They’ll see and process and remember the book that made it clear that of all the colors of the rainbow, green is the one we need for life itself. A book that is simultaneously subtle and enormously eye-catching. Call it poetry with purpose.
For ages 4-8.
May 31, 2023
I have very much enjoyed (no more to the point, I have absolutely visually adored) Laura Vaccaro Seeger's expressively bold green-based illustrations (and thankfully, these images are also not JUST in green, but also make use of other complimentary colours, as while green is indeed my very favourite colour, I for one would not have liked Green nearly as much if the presented pictorial spreads had only been rendered in green and nothing but green).
And while I do have to admit that the accompanying text is at best a bit mundane and really in no way anything even remotely all that narrationally special (and so much so that I for one actually almost tend to wish that Green had been constructed and left as a wordless picture book), the illustrations are indeed precisely and gloriously the kind of boldly expressionistic type of artwork I tend to most enjoy (realistic but also abstract at the same time, with thick and rich colours and often brushstrokes that can be seen, that have been left by the artist, a celebration of not only green but really of colours in general, a palette of delight and joyful expression, and as so evocatively penned by the immortal Romantic poet John Keats, Laura Vaccaro Seeger's painted images of green are indeed illustrations that at least for my own aesthetics, for my own visual tastes glowingly represent a thing of beauty that is truly a joy forever and as such, Green is a book that I will without a doubt look at again and again to feast my eyes on the glorious colours and images, a real and true "keeper" for me).
Highly recommended and yes, the only reason I am not granting a full five star ranking to Green is simply as already alluded to that I do think the book would have worked considerably better as a wordless picture book, that illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger's rather mundane and lacking accompanying text does leave a bit to be desired (and at least for me, it kind of tends to distract from the utterly gorgeous and expressive beauty of the depicted artwork).
And while I do have to admit that the accompanying text is at best a bit mundane and really in no way anything even remotely all that narrationally special (and so much so that I for one actually almost tend to wish that Green had been constructed and left as a wordless picture book), the illustrations are indeed precisely and gloriously the kind of boldly expressionistic type of artwork I tend to most enjoy (realistic but also abstract at the same time, with thick and rich colours and often brushstrokes that can be seen, that have been left by the artist, a celebration of not only green but really of colours in general, a palette of delight and joyful expression, and as so evocatively penned by the immortal Romantic poet John Keats, Laura Vaccaro Seeger's painted images of green are indeed illustrations that at least for my own aesthetics, for my own visual tastes glowingly represent a thing of beauty that is truly a joy forever and as such, Green is a book that I will without a doubt look at again and again to feast my eyes on the glorious colours and images, a real and true "keeper" for me).
Highly recommended and yes, the only reason I am not granting a full five star ranking to Green is simply as already alluded to that I do think the book would have worked considerably better as a wordless picture book, that illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger's rather mundane and lacking accompanying text does leave a bit to be desired (and at least for me, it kind of tends to distract from the utterly gorgeous and expressive beauty of the depicted artwork).
July 31, 2013
(Yes, those are my daughters with their fantastic aunt and an autographed copy of the book.)
My sister went to the ALA Convention in Chicago this year. The author of this book, Green was there, and was willing to autograph (and personalize) a copy.
So, this review is in part me saying: Hey Sis, I don't think I'll ever say to you "don't forget to be awesome" because you never forget. (And yes, that was a subtle tribute to another Green booky thingy... Get it, Green?) And part me saying: This book is really stinking cool.
I'm willing to wager Laura Vaccaro Seeger is more artist than author. The book is not plot-heavy. And I can't really say it's character-driven. And I don't normally review children's books without the help of Eleanor, so I may be lacking a child's critical (ok, uncritical) honesty and lack of direction - but because I don't have her here to guide me with her rabbit trails, I'm left to review a children's book on my own. (For the record, she was up for reviewing it, but as I mentioned earlier I wanted to pay homage to my sister, and Eleanor also gets off topic sometimes.)
I'm too tired to adequately describe the book. I'm sorry. Also, I'm not getting paid for these reviews...
There are holes and designs cut out from each page that help make up the pictures on the preceding and succeeding pages. They are masterfully done.
For instance, Gwennie, while reading the book with us cried out, "IT'S LIKE MAGIC!!!"
It is well done.
So, thanks, Dana. And thanks, Ms. Seeger for taking the time to sign it.
April 25, 2012
This is a simple concept book but I love it. It probably helps that if I had to name a favorite color I’d have to say green.
I am perplexed about why two pages have just the words green with no adjectives because I could think of at least one for each of those. Even the zebra page works because of the (cute and amusing) adjective on its page.
The illustrations are gorgeous and they have interesting (not overdone) cutouts. Truly stunning!
While the pages are simple, they are not boring. Toward the end there are even a couple pages with no green and a couple multicolored pages.
I can see “sequels” for this, using every color of the rainbow, but green is conducive to showing so many mesmerizing, interesting, and educational things. I could spend a lot of time, and many times, viewing these pictures, and talking about them with young children.
A funny thing is that while this book doesn’t exactly have a story, it manages to have a perfect ending. This is a very satisfying book, aesthetically and emotionally too. I think it’s a really special book.
Perfect read aloud, for all ages/young children, as older children and adults can enjoy this book too.
I am perplexed about why two pages have just the words green with no adjectives because I could think of at least one for each of those. Even the zebra page works because of the (cute and amusing) adjective on its page.
The illustrations are gorgeous and they have interesting (not overdone) cutouts. Truly stunning!
While the pages are simple, they are not boring. Toward the end there are even a couple pages with no green and a couple multicolored pages.
I can see “sequels” for this, using every color of the rainbow, but green is conducive to showing so many mesmerizing, interesting, and educational things. I could spend a lot of time, and many times, viewing these pictures, and talking about them with young children.
A funny thing is that while this book doesn’t exactly have a story, it manages to have a perfect ending. This is a very satisfying book, aesthetically and emotionally too. I think it’s a really special book.
Perfect read aloud, for all ages/young children, as older children and adults can enjoy this book too.
February 16, 2013
The star choices disappeared. All I see is "clear." Which frees me to give this book 12 stars. The benefit of reading the not-so-great Caldecott winner was that it led me to Laura Vaccaro Seeger. I wish (on all of those 12 stars) that she has a book deal for all the colors a small child can name. Orange. Blue. Purple. Yellow. Red. The brush strokes are marvelous, wide, free: I can smell the paint and brush cleaner. I love die cuts, and I am giddy about Ms. Seeger's placements and shapes. Oh, the reading joy! I will be dreaming of sharing this book with my great-nephew Lawson James, and his beautiful, reading mother. Lawson is 9 months old, and his mother reads to him every night. He goes to sleep telling himself a story. He hasn't spoken his first word yet, but the little guy knows that storytelling brings good dreams. And Laura Vaccaro Seeger knows that, too.
March 5, 2013
I appreciate the concept and the kid in me loved the cut-outs on each page and how the green fit in from one page to another. But, overall I just wasn't wild about the style of illustrations and since that's pretty much the main aspect of the book, it's just a three star for me, unfortunately.
April 14, 2012
If it's by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, I know I'm going to be surprised and amazed. This book takes surprise and amazement to a whole new level.
GREEN is an homage to the color green, to all of its shades and hues. Each spread is a painting that goes with the text, and each page has one or more cut-outs that include color from the next spread. The text seems to be a simple rhyming list, but as one who has worked really hard on the endings of my poems, I so admire the fact that her text is far from "simple" and her ending...perfect.
I read GREEN the first time for the language, barely noticing Seeger's signature cut-outs. I got to the end and said (aloud, to myself, in the still-sleeping house), "Wow."
Then I read it again and noticed the cut-outs. How the art in THIS page links magically to the art in the NEXT page. One page turn that makes me absolutely shake my head in wonder: The cut-out that describes the green of the jungle where the tiger is hiding says "Jungle" beside the text "green," but when you turn the page, the word "Jungle" disappears into the background of the salamander and the word "khaki" appears in the cut-out...wait a minute...that means the word khaki was hiding somewhere back in the tiger picture!!!
I read it a third time with my fingers. Finding every cut-out. Exploring what the exposed color means in this picture, turning the page and exploring what the color means in the next picture, and going back again.
This book is astonishingly, amazingly, delightfully BEAUTIFUL in every way. Too bad there aren't 10 stars on Goodreads!
GREEN is an homage to the color green, to all of its shades and hues. Each spread is a painting that goes with the text, and each page has one or more cut-outs that include color from the next spread. The text seems to be a simple rhyming list, but as one who has worked really hard on the endings of my poems, I so admire the fact that her text is far from "simple" and her ending...perfect.
I read GREEN the first time for the language, barely noticing Seeger's signature cut-outs. I got to the end and said (aloud, to myself, in the still-sleeping house), "Wow."
Then I read it again and noticed the cut-outs. How the art in THIS page links magically to the art in the NEXT page. One page turn that makes me absolutely shake my head in wonder: The cut-out that describes the green of the jungle where the tiger is hiding says "Jungle" beside the text "green," but when you turn the page, the word "Jungle" disappears into the background of the salamander and the word "khaki" appears in the cut-out...wait a minute...that means the word khaki was hiding somewhere back in the tiger picture!!!
I read it a third time with my fingers. Finding every cut-out. Exploring what the exposed color means in this picture, turning the page and exploring what the color means in the next picture, and going back again.
This book is astonishingly, amazingly, delightfully BEAUTIFUL in every way. Too bad there aren't 10 stars on Goodreads!
December 27, 2017
I was a little nervous about how our girls would react to this book. After all, it's a book about a color with short page descriptions, more than a narrative. I was prepared for them to call it babyish, but I asked them to just check out the awesome illustrations. Besides, green is our oldest daughter's favorite color (or one of them, anyway) so I thought she might like it.
How silly could I be? Our girls loved this book. Such a fitting tribute to the color green. The die cut pages were amazing and we flipped back and forth between the pages frequently to better appreciate the background illustrations and the effects of the die cuts on each side. This book is just a marvel to look at and earns a rare five-star rating from me.
This is a short book and with such vivid pictures and limited text, it's great for children of all ages. We really loved this book and we hope to find more books like this from Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Our youngest daughter's favorite color is pink. Somehow I don't think the concept would work quite as well with that color, but you never know...
This book was selected as one of the books for the December 2017- Caldecott Honors 2013-2017 discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
How silly could I be? Our girls loved this book. Such a fitting tribute to the color green. The die cut pages were amazing and we flipped back and forth between the pages frequently to better appreciate the background illustrations and the effects of the die cuts on each side. This book is just a marvel to look at and earns a rare five-star rating from me.
This is a short book and with such vivid pictures and limited text, it's great for children of all ages. We really loved this book and we hope to find more books like this from Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Our youngest daughter's favorite color is pink. Somehow I don't think the concept would work quite as well with that color, but you never know...
This book was selected as one of the books for the December 2017- Caldecott Honors 2013-2017 discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
September 29, 2015
The limited words on each page allow the reader to get lost in the beauty of the illustrations of this gorgeous children's book. I was expecting the typical greens but was pleasantly surprised to see the clever takes on wacky green, slow green, and no green at all. I glided from page to page, appreciating the clever cutouts and visual appeal of this incredible children's book.
This text could be used at a variety of levels. In my reading, I felt it is really asking readers: "How many different ways can you look at the color green?" We see objects, colors, and basic things in our world one way, but how can we interpret them differently? I would love to see this used in a creative writing classroom.
This text could be used at a variety of levels. In my reading, I felt it is really asking readers: "How many different ways can you look at the color green?" We see objects, colors, and basic things in our world one way, but how can we interpret them differently? I would love to see this used in a creative writing classroom.
November 22, 2018
Much in the same vein of super-innovative illustration as Susan Marie Swanson's 2009 Caldecott Medal-winning The House in the Night, Green is an astonishing show of color and visual perspective, luminescing off the page as if the artwork were not constrained by ordinary limitations of paper and ink. Artist extraordinaire Laura Vaccaro Seeger wastes not an inch of the space allotted her for the performance of this book, a fact that becomes abundantly clear with every successive turn of the page as unnoticed brown spots on a kitchen counter morph into predatory tiger eyes, the outline of an inchworm changes to become a rusty handle holding up a battered old sign, the vibrant red exterior of a barn doubles as the fruit growing on a strong young apple tree, and much more. Even if you've read a thousand picture books, you will still be amazed by the tricks pulled off in Green, as author/illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger easily distances herself from the crowd with a performance that could define her legacy.
Green comes in multitudinous shades and forms, a diverse variety of shapes and presentations, like any other color. But I think what sets green apart from the rest of the visible spectrum and makes it the clear choice to highlight in a book like this one is its symbolic representation of the cycle of life we know and instinctively hold dear, clinging to it tightly because it's what we are, and so feels like the greatest good imaginable. The inscrutable consciousness of life is the conduit for every gift we're ever afforded the opportunity to experience, whether it be the selfless grace of true love expressed in ways great or small, the intellectual wonder of finding out about the world we inhabit and the people who join us living in it, or the million little mysteries our curious hands are drawn toward but can never quite grasp, yet are never so far away we quit trying and decide to content ourselves with what we already know. Life itself comes in an unending array of shades of green, and this book lovingly takes us by the hand and leads us on a tour of but a few of them, each welling with the beauty of natural green as it lives and changes and continues to move, unlike almost all other matter in our universe. In that way, Green is a quiet celebration of what separates our planet from the trillions of miles of silent, lifeless space surrounding it, a minuscule oasis in an intergalactic dustbowl that somehow doesn't feel at all lonely for its isolation in the cosmos. The color green is dietary sustenance, loamy warmth, a caring touch and the reassuring awareness that we are not alone here on earth. We never need to lose the feeling of connection that holds us together, the promise that after every dreary, interminable winter we endure, the first sprig of green is always still just around the next bend.
Laura Vaccaro Seeger did a good job writing this story, but the lasting appreciation of Green will likely be for its cutting-edge artwork, a perfectly aligned procession of page placements and strategically designed cutouts that blend faultlessly to create a book of paragonistic visual continuity. I'm not surprised that Green was acknowledged by the American Library Association in 2013 with a Caldecott Honor; in fact, had it won the Caldecott Medal, I would have no complaints about the selection. If everything Laura Vaccaro Seeger writes is this good, then her offerings in the field of picture books for young readers may be regarded as classics for as long as people continue to read.
Green comes in multitudinous shades and forms, a diverse variety of shapes and presentations, like any other color. But I think what sets green apart from the rest of the visible spectrum and makes it the clear choice to highlight in a book like this one is its symbolic representation of the cycle of life we know and instinctively hold dear, clinging to it tightly because it's what we are, and so feels like the greatest good imaginable. The inscrutable consciousness of life is the conduit for every gift we're ever afforded the opportunity to experience, whether it be the selfless grace of true love expressed in ways great or small, the intellectual wonder of finding out about the world we inhabit and the people who join us living in it, or the million little mysteries our curious hands are drawn toward but can never quite grasp, yet are never so far away we quit trying and decide to content ourselves with what we already know. Life itself comes in an unending array of shades of green, and this book lovingly takes us by the hand and leads us on a tour of but a few of them, each welling with the beauty of natural green as it lives and changes and continues to move, unlike almost all other matter in our universe. In that way, Green is a quiet celebration of what separates our planet from the trillions of miles of silent, lifeless space surrounding it, a minuscule oasis in an intergalactic dustbowl that somehow doesn't feel at all lonely for its isolation in the cosmos. The color green is dietary sustenance, loamy warmth, a caring touch and the reassuring awareness that we are not alone here on earth. We never need to lose the feeling of connection that holds us together, the promise that after every dreary, interminable winter we endure, the first sprig of green is always still just around the next bend.
Laura Vaccaro Seeger did a good job writing this story, but the lasting appreciation of Green will likely be for its cutting-edge artwork, a perfectly aligned procession of page placements and strategically designed cutouts that blend faultlessly to create a book of paragonistic visual continuity. I'm not surprised that Green was acknowledged by the American Library Association in 2013 with a Caldecott Honor; in fact, had it won the Caldecott Medal, I would have no complaints about the selection. If everything Laura Vaccaro Seeger writes is this good, then her offerings in the field of picture books for young readers may be regarded as classics for as long as people continue to read.
March 13, 2016
I received a copy of this title from Pan MacMillan Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis:
A clever foray into the colour green, its shades and symbolism.
“How engaging can a book about a single colour actually be?” I suspect you might be asking yourself. Green is not your average, colour-based picture book. For starters, it makes use of some very clever die-cut holes that lead the reader on to the next page. While die-cuts are always fun in and of themselves, the die-cuts in this particular book are impressively utilised. Some have words hidden in the illustrations. Others are so cleverly placed that they are almost invisible until one turns the page.
The last few pages follow a little mini-narrative which is full of hope and also might provide younger readers with the inspiration to pop outside and green up their own environment. After having flicked through this book multiple times, it is obvious why it has attracted such acclaim. The illustrations are gorgeous and textured and some clever twists on the green theme set this book apart from your typical colour-based book for little ones.
This would be a wonderful choice for a classroom library; the kind of book that will be well-thumbed by the end of the year, from eager young readers repeatedly drinking in the visual delights of the artwork and boggling at the more-than-meets-the-eye symbolism of a single hue.
Ten Second Synopsis:
A clever foray into the colour green, its shades and symbolism.
“How engaging can a book about a single colour actually be?” I suspect you might be asking yourself. Green is not your average, colour-based picture book. For starters, it makes use of some very clever die-cut holes that lead the reader on to the next page. While die-cuts are always fun in and of themselves, the die-cuts in this particular book are impressively utilised. Some have words hidden in the illustrations. Others are so cleverly placed that they are almost invisible until one turns the page.
The last few pages follow a little mini-narrative which is full of hope and also might provide younger readers with the inspiration to pop outside and green up their own environment. After having flicked through this book multiple times, it is obvious why it has attracted such acclaim. The illustrations are gorgeous and textured and some clever twists on the green theme set this book apart from your typical colour-based book for little ones.
This would be a wonderful choice for a classroom library; the kind of book that will be well-thumbed by the end of the year, from eager young readers repeatedly drinking in the visual delights of the artwork and boggling at the more-than-meets-the-eye symbolism of a single hue.
March 3, 2012
Another stunning, imaginative offering from Laura Vacarro Seeger, this title highlights all the incredible shades of my favorite color, green. Thus, her die-cut illustrations feature the green of a juicy, just-cut lime, the darkish tones of pea green in a bowl of newly-shelled peas, and the slow-moving green of a caterpillar creeping across a flower petal, among others. Each double-page spread has a cut-out that belongs to the next page, and as readers reach the end of the book, they encounter opposites--"never green" (unpaginated)--as well as wintery times when there is "no green" (unpaginated) and the summer when trees seem to be "forever green" (unpaginated). With spring possibly just around the corner, at least in some parts of the world, this is a timely title to share in your classroom. The fact that the cut-outs come in different shapes and sizes as well as being placed at different spots on the book's pages adds to the appeal. This one is a must-have for the classroom library.
April 17, 2012
Destined to be a classic. Possibly on the level of, like, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It might be too slight for that... but I read it twice, got up to share it with my niece, we read it twice, then went to find her mom.
Read
January 2, 2022Again another childrem book that is just ugly. And the diecuts felt lazy and pointless.
August 17, 2022
LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! Seeger’s text and illustrations require students to slow down and look closely and think. Each two-page spread in green, a 2012 Caldecott Honor Book, is dedicated to one particular shade of green. I finished this book and then read it again immediately, slowing myself down, savoring each page and thinking through the difference between the shades of green that Seeger features. Most of the shades are revealed through a nonfiction topic – forest green, sea green, lime green, pea green. There are few off beat greens – a “wacky green” with a green striped zebra; these do not deter from her message that there are a lot of different shades of green in our world. Instead “wacky green” expands our understanding of the presence of shades of green beyond the natural world to the creative, imaginary world.
There are so many teaching possibilities here.
FIRST, I'd just enjoy the book with children. Read it aloud all the way through without stopping. Let the students absorb Seeger's message, the amazing illustrations, the specific words. Then you could move into conversations that help students track their thinking when you reread the text. I'd ask text-dependent questions like, "What do you notice?" and "What in the text makes you think that?" I really believe helping students to slow down and look closely at the illustrations is a move towards close reading of text in later grades. I'd suggest putting the book on the document camera and asking the students to look at a particular illustration without comment for a minute at a time. See where this goes and comment on how slowing down to look closely revealed so much more in the picture than just glancing at it and moving on. As a result of this looking closely, the students made more meaning as readers - they began to understand what "faded green" really looks like.
You could also teach for expanding vocabulary (different shades of green) - to use in students' descriptive writing, to think about in their drawings, to employ in conversations about pictures they are looking at closely.
There are so many teaching possibilities here.
FIRST, I'd just enjoy the book with children. Read it aloud all the way through without stopping. Let the students absorb Seeger's message, the amazing illustrations, the specific words. Then you could move into conversations that help students track their thinking when you reread the text. I'd ask text-dependent questions like, "What do you notice?" and "What in the text makes you think that?" I really believe helping students to slow down and look closely at the illustrations is a move towards close reading of text in later grades. I'd suggest putting the book on the document camera and asking the students to look at a particular illustration without comment for a minute at a time. See where this goes and comment on how slowing down to look closely revealed so much more in the picture than just glancing at it and moving on. As a result of this looking closely, the students made more meaning as readers - they began to understand what "faded green" really looks like.
You could also teach for expanding vocabulary (different shades of green) - to use in students' descriptive writing, to think about in their drawings, to employ in conversations about pictures they are looking at closely.
June 10, 2015
1) “Imagine a world without color, my friends... just a blank white slate. My hair wouldn’t be brown, but rather plain white. Katie’s dress wouldn’t be pink with purple polka dots, but just plain white, and Cameron’s highlighter yellow socks would just be the regular white kind. Can you imagine a world like this? I can't! I simply love to see the vibrant colors of summer sunsets. Color is one way to add great detail to our writing, and in Green, a book written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, she describes a color. Can you raise your hand and guess what color she describes? As I read this book, be thinking about the ways in which Laura describes things that are green and how she makes “green” things better than just green.
2) My openings moves for this book included: prompting predictions based on the title, raising questions to spark curiosity, and drawing attention to the writer’s craft. I prompted a prediction based on the title, asking my students, “What color do you think the author will describe?” I raise a question about what a world with no color would be like in order to spark their curiosity; lastly, I draw attention to the writer’s craft by hinting that the author doesn’t just describe things that are green, but she describes what kind of green these things are, and she does so in a creative way.
3) I chose Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger because an important piece for adding detail to writing in kindergarten students is through the use of color words. It’s an easy detail for students to use, however, students often give very basic color details and don’t expand on the beauty of the place/ thing they are trying to describe. By reading Green, however, students will be shown ways to expand on the true beauty by describing further the color of various things. I also chose this book because my students may be able to read it on their own and because color words are a part of our spelling curriculum. This book, like the others in the text set, will help students expand on detail in their writing.
2) My openings moves for this book included: prompting predictions based on the title, raising questions to spark curiosity, and drawing attention to the writer’s craft. I prompted a prediction based on the title, asking my students, “What color do you think the author will describe?” I raise a question about what a world with no color would be like in order to spark their curiosity; lastly, I draw attention to the writer’s craft by hinting that the author doesn’t just describe things that are green, but she describes what kind of green these things are, and she does so in a creative way.
3) I chose Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger because an important piece for adding detail to writing in kindergarten students is through the use of color words. It’s an easy detail for students to use, however, students often give very basic color details and don’t expand on the beauty of the place/ thing they are trying to describe. By reading Green, however, students will be shown ways to expand on the true beauty by describing further the color of various things. I also chose this book because my students may be able to read it on their own and because color words are a part of our spelling curriculum. This book, like the others in the text set, will help students expand on detail in their writing.
June 18, 2012
What I Appreciated:
> clever use of cut-outs -- I love that leaves become fish and a butterfly becomes a flower and fireflies become apples
> introduction to different shades of green (obviously)
> "glow green" page -- This was far and away my favorite spread. The fireflies were nice, but I LOVE the barn light. It's a small thing, but it really resonated with me. There's just a simple beauty to it.
What I Felt Was...Odd, Let's Say:
> "forever green" on a page with trees that will lose their leaves and grass that will turn brown -- Why not use an evergreen forest instead? I actually think kids would catch that pretty quickly. Now, maybe I'm being too picky here. After all, grass and trees are green and always will be green in the sense that the sky is blue and night is black. And maybe that's what Seeger was implying here. I just took it literally, and it didn't work for me in that sense. It would have made complete sense to use evergreens. Just sayin'. But I am apparently the only human in existence who felt that way.
> "wacky green" -- Whaaa? Well, okay, if you say so....
All in all, this is a winner.
Art teachers will like it. (Ours plans on using it with classes working on monochromatic art.) Adults will like it. Kids will like it.
Kermit the Frog will LOVE it.
> clever use of cut-outs -- I love that leaves become fish and a butterfly becomes a flower and fireflies become apples
> introduction to different shades of green (obviously)
> "glow green" page -- This was far and away my favorite spread. The fireflies were nice, but I LOVE the barn light. It's a small thing, but it really resonated with me. There's just a simple beauty to it.
What I Felt Was...Odd, Let's Say:
> "forever green" on a page with trees that will lose their leaves and grass that will turn brown -- Why not use an evergreen forest instead? I actually think kids would catch that pretty quickly. Now, maybe I'm being too picky here. After all, grass and trees are green and always will be green in the sense that the sky is blue and night is black. And maybe that's what Seeger was implying here. I just took it literally, and it didn't work for me in that sense. It would have made complete sense to use evergreens. Just sayin'. But I am apparently the only human in existence who felt that way.
> "wacky green" -- Whaaa? Well, okay, if you say so....
All in all, this is a winner.
Art teachers will like it. (Ours plans on using it with classes working on monochromatic art.) Adults will like it. Kids will like it.
Kermit the Frog will LOVE it.
September 13, 2012
The book, Green is the ultimate concept book with beautiful illustrations. The color green is portrayed in so many different ways that are really eye opening to children. This book's ornate details make it one of a kind. This book is a fun way for children to learn about their colors and could also be used for an art lesson.
Acrylics are the source of artistic media used to create the illustrations throughout this book. Color is a stand out feature in this book since the illustrations make up the book. Each shade of green goes along with the text making the book very successful. Green isn't the only color used, but it does make up the majority of the book. The artist uses value which really makes the images look real. The shading makes the images seem like they are popping out at the reader or that there is a light source. Line is another thing that is used well by the artist. This is especially true on the very first page where it looks like some of the trees are closer than the others.
This book has very few words so I don't think I would use it as a read aloud, but it would be great to have this book displayed in the classroom. It could be a great introduction to an art unit on color or even a unit on nature.
Acrylics are the source of artistic media used to create the illustrations throughout this book. Color is a stand out feature in this book since the illustrations make up the book. Each shade of green goes along with the text making the book very successful. Green isn't the only color used, but it does make up the majority of the book. The artist uses value which really makes the images look real. The shading makes the images seem like they are popping out at the reader or that there is a light source. Line is another thing that is used well by the artist. This is especially true on the very first page where it looks like some of the trees are closer than the others.
This book has very few words so I don't think I would use it as a read aloud, but it would be great to have this book displayed in the classroom. It could be a great introduction to an art unit on color or even a unit on nature.
October 5, 2013
Summary:This concept book was about the color green. It showed that green can come in many different shades. Some things are always green and some things are never green. It had some slight humor and various die cut shapes were on every page.
Reaction:I thought this was a wonderful color concept book. Even though it only focused on one color -it was great. I love the die cuts in the pages that connect you to the colors on the next page. The end of the book was my favorite section because I thought it added more imagination and creativity. It also had a hint of what it means to be eco-friendly. I'd buy it for my kid!
Curriculum Connection:Color identification, color wheel, environment friendly, art/paint, abstractness.
Visual Appeal:Very appealing front cover. All the pages are appealing, actually. Bright colors are used with a paint-like texture. The die cuts make it even more appealing!
Audience:PreK-1
Reaction:I thought this was a wonderful color concept book. Even though it only focused on one color -it was great. I love the die cuts in the pages that connect you to the colors on the next page. The end of the book was my favorite section because I thought it added more imagination and creativity. It also had a hint of what it means to be eco-friendly. I'd buy it for my kid!
Curriculum Connection:Color identification, color wheel, environment friendly, art/paint, abstractness.
Visual Appeal:Very appealing front cover. All the pages are appealing, actually. Bright colors are used with a paint-like texture. The die cuts make it even more appealing!
Audience:PreK-1
June 1, 2018
This picture book is really good for teaching colors, and the illustrations are very detailed. I enjoyed going through the book. The book had cutouts that were well planned and it was an interactive book. I liked the style the illustrations are in. When I picked the book, based only on the title, I was expecting more, as I read the Grand Canyon right before and had high expectations. I was slightly disappointed by that, but it is a good picture book for younger children nonetheless.
The cutouts were the most interesting part. There were words hidden in the pictures that you didn’t see until you turned the page and the word was outlined. They were very creative, making apples, leaves, lights, etc. I was bored with the book as an adult, but the book would be a great addition to a classroom of young children.
The cutouts were the most interesting part. There were words hidden in the pictures that you didn’t see until you turned the page and the word was outlined. They were very creative, making apples, leaves, lights, etc. I was bored with the book as an adult, but the book would be a great addition to a classroom of young children.
February 22, 2013
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger was a 2013 Caldecott Honor book. Where One Boy teaches children some basics of counting as well as words within words, this one highlights many shades of green as well as the things in life that are (or in some cases, not) green.
Like One Boy, Green has die cut shapes that help unite the pages by allowing bits of color through. Here, the shapes are much smaller and more subtle — sometimes making just a few petals on a flower or among the camouflage of colors, some relevant text ("khaki" and "jungle").
The illustrations appear to have been painted this time, giving a very lush and eye pleasing exploration of the color green. As Sondra Eklund says, it's "exquisite craftsmanship" makes it "worth another look."
Like One Boy, Green has die cut shapes that help unite the pages by allowing bits of color through. Here, the shapes are much smaller and more subtle — sometimes making just a few petals on a flower or among the camouflage of colors, some relevant text ("khaki" and "jungle").
The illustrations appear to have been painted this time, giving a very lush and eye pleasing exploration of the color green. As Sondra Eklund says, it's "exquisite craftsmanship" makes it "worth another look."
May 27, 2017
Such a beautiful and entertaining celebration of everything that is green:
Check out this video to experience the surprise of the die-cuts as you turn the pages of this unique picturebook!
Also, I LOVE the texture of Laura Vaccaro Seeger's paintings:
Check out this video to experience the surprise of the die-cuts as you turn the pages of this unique picturebook!
Also, I LOVE the texture of Laura Vaccaro Seeger's paintings:
February 4, 2013
The die cuts are excellent uses of frame as a visual technique, which became most clear when words appeared inside some. I wished the text had been less directly representational of what was in the pictures. This did not feel like a preschool book (although I imagine it will likely come back as a board book), so some more complex relationships between words and pictures would make the experience richer for older picture book readers.
April 18, 2012
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book! There's something magical about the way she uses the die-cuts. And I love the organic, earthy oil-on-canvas pictures. Only a few words, but a lot of emotion. We love ALL the books by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, she's amazingly talented!
March 4, 2013
Pretty, artsy, creatively done.
January 12, 2018
A fun book with lovely illustrations: https://www.theproblemsite.com/book-s...
November 8, 2018
All about green
November 28, 2018
So enjoyed thinking about the color green in this new way. Especially fun were the secret reveals which emphasized hidden gems within the exquisitely painted scenes. Loved it!!
March 16, 2019
A great book for those beginning to read and learn about the variations of green.
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