Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Charley Harper Colors
Board Book
For Infants to children age 4
Ammo Books, 2011 ISBN: 978-1934429549
Charley Harper was an artist who is famous for the stylized prints he created that captured the beauty of nature and more. He loved to use bright colors that seem to explode off the paper, and explored patterns and shapes in clever ways.
In this beautiful board book simple descriptive phrases are paired with some of Charley Harper’s artwork to provide children with a memorable introduction to the world of colors. In every illustration we see colorful animals or a scene, and the text invites us to look at certain colors.
For example on one page there is an image showing a lady wearing an old-fashioned outfit complete with a large hat, long skirt, and umbrella. Behind her we see an airship, a motor car, and a Ferris wheel. So much is going on in the art but the text draws us to the “hot pink hat” that the “old-fashioned lady” is wearing. Seeing the pink hat makes us notice that her pink shirt and the decoration on her sleeves are also in a matching pink.
Further along in the book we see brightly colored birds perched above a ray of bright green leaves. Though the birds catch our eyes at first, the words in the text remind us to look at the “pointy green leaves” which are striking in their own way.
Children are going to have a wonderful time exploring the artwork in this book, looking at the colors mentioned in the text. It is interesting to see how the artist captures and holds our interest throughout the book.
