Emerald Blue

by Ann Marie Linden

A young girl describes the life that she and her brother share with their grandmother in her Caribbean island home, until their mother comes to take them away.

28 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Eleanor King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is incredibly beautiful and the language rich, it goes into depth about the main character’s life in the Caribbean: the food, the journeys to school, their work on the farm, how she has her hair done in the morning, and so on, and thus, has a lot to unpick. The illustrations go beautifully with the text, seeming warm and soft. This would be useful when looking at the Caribbean culture in KS2 lessons, although it is vocabulary dense so may be difficult to read at first. A possible activity could be in identifying similarities and differences between different cultures. The ending is tragic, telling the story of them leaving a home they loved to find a new one, and of separation from their family but thus sheds light on an important but hard topic, experienced by many in some manner.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on real life memories of the author's childhood in Barbados with her own brother and grandmother, Emerald Blue is a story of the sadness of leaving a home you love to find a new one. It is also a story of separation as much as it is new beginnings. The illustrations are warm and dream-like and I particularly like Doyle's use of the endpapers. The story itself is well written with rich language too.