Colors! Colores!

This book is written by Jorge Lujan and illustrated by Piet Grobler. It was published in 2008 by Groundwood Books.

Lexile Level: NP (Non-prose)     Ages: 5-8

NP: Non-Prose

The NP code is for any book comprising more than 50% non-standard or non-conforming prose. NP books do not receive a Lexile measure, merely the NP code. Some common examples of non-prose content are poems, plays, songs, recipes, and text with non-standard or absent punctuation.  (Lexile.com)

Summary:

     Colors! Colores! takes the reader through a journey through the celebration of colors. John Lujan takes the reader through day to night using a range of colors. We see children and an antelope inhabiting this delicate world. This bilingual book presents a gorgeous vision of a planet in nature. From descriptions of greenery, the rising sun, nights arrival, and the moon.

Evaluation and illustrations:

     This book visually looks like a picture book, but it is actually a fully illustrated collection of 11 poems (one poem for each color). Each poem appears in English and directly underneath is Spanish. The best part of the poems is when the colors were mentioned they were written in the color said in both the English and Spanish sections. For example,

"I saw a lake.

I saw a flower.

I saw the twilight.

... Violet!

Vio un lago, 

vio una flor,

vio el ocaso,

violeta!"

With the author doing this it makes it easier for the students to find the correct color in their opposing language. For instance, if the student is reading English and wants to know what green looks like in Spanish then they can easily find the word. 

     Piet Grobler made eye-catching watercolor paintings for each poem. His drawing are simple and unique and captures the colors Lujan is describing in all the right ways. The second time reading this story I noticed there was an antelope placed on all the pages (besides one) this antelope provides a link between the following pictures to create a cohesive whole. One issue with the illustrations is the red and the orange pages almost look the same. The orange page comes first and it looks like the color orange, but then the red page comes straight after and looking back and forth the red looks like orange.

Literary Elements:

     Since they were poems there were some that rhymed, for example: 

"Brown. 

A coconut floating down, 

a rock far from town,

where an antelope is watching".

There were also some similes throughout. One example is "the color pink, bright as a little girl's nose, makes everything smell like a rose". There were also metaphors, one example is "Yellow rolls through the sky like a warm gold coin". 

1. Rhyming: Most of the short poems rhyme

2. Simile: There are not many, but there are two on the pink page

3. Metaphor: The color yellow uses a metaphor.

In the Classroom:

     I would use this book in my classroom for my ELL students (English Language Learners) or students who want to know Spanish. This book is simple and will help students accurately find the word for a certain colors.

     I would also use this book to introduce poetry. These are simple poems that can be an example for younger students. I would have my students pick five colors and similar to the author Jorge Lujan create poems for those colors. They could describe anything the student wanted such as, a notebook or the color of their pet. Along with writing the poem they can also create illustrations that displays the colors accurately. 

Lujan, J., & Grobler, P. (2008). Colors! Colores! Groundwood Books.