COLORS

The didactic duo Zoe the zebra and Zack the chameleon are
back to teach artistically inclined toddlers the value of a varied palette.

This charming primer introduces preschoolers to six basic
colors—blue, yellow, red, green, orange, and purple—as well as black and white,
then demonstrates their utility in creating simple but pleasing
representational images. Duquennoy has a gift for communicating simple, useful
ideas to youngsters while cultivating a sense of excitement about visual
expression. Here, he employs die-cut pages and inlaid acetate sheets to create
surprise composite images that take shape when the page is turned and the
pattern on the acetate combines with a pattern on the previous page. “Using the
color blue, Zoe and Zack paint…”—here readers turn the page, so the acetate
overlays the preceding page, and the blue blobs on each page combine to form—“…a
seal on the ice.” With the color red, the two friends paint a fish, and with
yellow, “the shining sun.” They also paint a green frog, an orange fox, a
purple sea turtle, and a black wolf. On the final sheet of acetate, Zoe paints
a multitude of white dots, which, readers learn upon turning the page, is snow
in which the wolf can play.

Zack and Zoe’s evident joy and ease in painting should
inspire young Riveras and Kahlos alike to make some art of their own. (Board book. 2-5)