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It's been a while since I've done a picture book roundup.  Here are three that struck my fancy:

Kind. This boy is the best!

Have you seen Elephant? 

Written and illustrated by David Barrow.
Gecko Press, 2016

A kind young boy plays hide-and-seek with his elephant friend and takes care to keep the game going, despite the fact that his friend is a very poor hider! Have you seen Elephant? is bright and cheerful and funny, and above all - kind. This is the first book I've seen from Gecko Press and the first by David Barrow. I love it!





Confined? Can the colortamer catch them all?

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color

Written and illustrated by Julia Denos
Balzer Bray, 2016

Bright, bold, and expressive, Swatch is a color tamer - trapping and using colors in the most fantastic of ways. A bold and fearless artist, no color had escaped her artistic eye ... no color but one,

"Morning came, and there it was, fast fading and fierce, the King of All Yellows, blooming in the sidewalk crack in spite of the shadows. Swatch was ready .... At last, Yellowest Yellow would be hers."

Or would it?

This is the first book that Julia Denos has written as well as illustrated. I would love this book even if my favorite color were not the hero of the story!


Find. Where is that cat?

Spot, the Cat 

Illustrated by Henry Cole
Little Simon, 2016

A beautifully detailed, wordless book - more than just a seek-and-find, it follows the path of an adventurous cat in the city and the boy who wants to find him. Join the young boy and search the city for Spot, the cat.

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Before you check out Apples and Robins, an amazing picture book if there ever was one, check out the winner of two Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians author signed books. Each reader who commented was assigned a number, beginning with the first comment posted. (reverse order of there placement). Using Random.org ‘s generator, the …

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Charley Harper’s Animal Alphabet— Count the Birds — Book of Colors Written by Zoe Burke Illustrated by Charley Harper Pomegranate Kids     6/30/2015 978-0-7649-7233-1 — 978-0-7649-7246-1 — 978-0-7649-7261-4 20 pages     Age 1—3 Today is not December 8th, but that is the date of Charley Harper Day in Cincinnati, Ohio where Mr. Harper …

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What drove you to start creating children's books? A revolt! When I had my first child, children’s books looked like some stupid marketing thing.

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Pantone, best known among designers for their standardized color matching system, has announced the top ten colors for men’s and women’s fashion for Spring 2016! The list: PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz PANTONE 16-1548 Peach Echo PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity PANTONE 19-4049 Snorkel Blue PANTONE 12-0752 Buttercup PANTONE 13-4810 Limpet Shell PANTONE 16-3905 Lilac Gray PANTONE 17-1564 Fiesta […]

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The countdown is on for the release of The Day the Crayons Came Home (on sale August 18th 2015), the sequel to the New York Times best selling kids book The Day the Crayons Quit, written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

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Learning patterns and colors with three kids books about color and patterns.

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Simple, bold illustrations with fun formats that beg to be touched by little hands.

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Hervé Tullet is known for his prodigious versatility, from directing ad campaigns to designing fabric for Hermès. But his real love is working with children, for whom he has published dozens of books, including Press Here.

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Classic Picture Book: Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes | Storytime Standouts

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin
Picture book published by Harper Collins Children’s Books

Light, breezy, rhythmic and upbeat, Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes shares a message of resilience that will appeal to children and adults. Pete begins his day with bright, white new shoes. When he steps onto a pile of strawberries, his shoes turn red and, when he encounters blueberries, his shoes turn blue. Regardless of what poor Pete has to walk through, he maintains his happy outlook. Very popular with young children who enjoy learning and singing about colors, Pete also has a message for older children and adults:

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Helen Keller

An excellent choice for young readers who will benefit from the repetitive and predictable text, Pete’s coolness is oh so groovy!

Harper Collins Publishers’ Pete the Cat downloads (including songs)

I Can Read Pete the Cat (free downloads)

School Library Journal’s Top 100 Picture Books
2013 Morning Calm Award Medal, International Schools of South Korea
2013 Best Picture Book, Colorado Children’s Book Award
2013 Best Picture Book, North Carolina Children’s Book Award
2012 Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library – Ladybug Picture Book Award
2011 ReadKiddoRead award for Best Illustrated Books
2011 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
2010 25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes at Amazon.com

Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes at Amazon.ca

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes on YouTube

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes Pinterest Board

Follow Storytime Standouts’s board Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin on Pinterest.

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Storytime Standouts - Raising Children Who Love to Read

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes -...

Two Shoes, Blue Shoes, New Shoes – These Shoes Really Dance

Two Shoes, Blue Shoes, New Shoes! -Written by Sally Fitz-Gibbon,...

Classic Picture Book CLICK CLACK MOO Cows that Type

When Farmer Brown's cows get their hooves on an old...

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Orange Triangle Fox is a sturdy and colorful board book that incorporates three learning opportunities into one! Each spread features a different animal, shape, and color with a darling illustration and clear and easy to read words.

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Today we start with a question. Two questions, to be exact.

1. Can you count to ten?

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10”

Good!

 2. Do you know your colors?

“Red, blue, yellow, green, orange— ”

—Okay, that’s great!

“. . . pink, purple, brown, black . . .”

Let’s get started. Debut Author Sarah Jones.

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Bunnies Near and Far

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press      4/01/2014

978-1-936669-22-6

Age 1 to 4      10 pages

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“Colors. Shapes. Critters! Three concepts in one make learning fun! Inspire bedtime or story time, with this fun and educational concept book! Watch colorful native forest animals including red square owl and yellow star frog take shape, teaching basic concepts simultaneously. Rich, sweet watercolor illustrations are a delight for sharing over and over again.”

Opening 

“1 bunny near. 2 bunnies far.”

Review

Farmer Bo has lost track of his bunnies. Where could they have gone? We know 1 bunny is nearby and 2 bunnies are far off. Where did 3 bunnies go, and 4 bunnies? I saw 5 bunnies going up and 6 bunnies going down—they were on a teeter-totter. Wherever 7 and 8 bunnies went in opposite directions. Then I heard 9 bunnies singing to 10 bunnies playing an instrument. Farmer Bo does not know where any of his bunnies are. Oh, look! Farmer Bo counts as the bunnies return home. 1-one, 2-two, 3-three . . . all the way to his 10-ten musical bunnies. Wow! How many bunnies is that?

There are bunnies everywhere in Bunnies Near and Far. The situations the bunnies get into are common and recognizable by little kids. This is a fun way to learn how to count. The bunnies are cute though a tad plump and do some goofy stuff. Little kids will giggle at these bunnies on an apparent day off. I love the color of the book, which is predominately green with a few other colors tossed in on a few pages. The car is carrot orange and is somewhat shaped like a carrot. There even looks to be a smidge of green at the back of the car. I love details like this; things you would never expect. The theme of Bunnies Near and Far is more modern than most simple counting books and maybe that is what makes it so utterly charming.

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Still remember your colors. (Please do not tell me, I remember.) Let’s look at colors.

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Orange, Triangle, Fox

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press     4/01/2014

978-1-936669-21-9

Age 1 to 4     10 pages

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“Farmer Bo wants to know where his bunnies are. Some are near, some are far, some walking some in a car, and all are as cute as can be! Little ones will learn counting and opposites in this fun tale of bunnies on the go. Perfect for sharing: read and count along to find out what they’ll do next!”

Opening  

”brown circle hedgehog”

Review

Orange, Triangle, Fox is about colors, shapes, and animals. What could be more perfect than all of these concepts in one book for the youngest children? Interestingly, the shape and color become the shape of the animal and its color. The title page is orange and the shape is a triangle. The fox is an orange triangle. I think this will delight kids. The forest animals include an owl, a fox, frog, and a turtle among others. Young children will simultaneously learn about three concepts—shapes, colors, and animals—learning to process multiple stimuli. They may start looking at the world around them for animals or other objects in a certain shape. The forest animals are adorable, maybe more so because of the shape they have become.

As a set, Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far help young children learn, or reinforce, their numbers, colors, and forest animals. The books are kid shaped, just the size for little hands to hold. The pages are thick to stand up to kids excitedly turning the page. Spilt milk and blobs of jelly should wipe right off the heavy, glossy pages. At ten pages, bedtime reading of Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far can start a tradition of reading and a lifelong love of books. Both of these books are nontraditional in form, but very much traditional in content. Little ones can learn about the numbers one through ten, and about colors, shapes, and animals. Four important elements your child needs to learn, packed into two adorable books with designs by Sarah Jones. Beautiful and functional, child-sized and childproof.

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Learn more about Sarah Jones books for young children HERE.

Buy Bunnies Near and Far at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

Buy Orange, Triangle, Fox at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

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Meet Sarah Jones at her profile at scbwi:  http://www.scbwi.org/members-public/sarah-jones

Find more board books at the website of Blue Manatee Press:  http://bluemanateepress.com/

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ORANGE TRIANGLE FOX and BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Sarah Jones. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Blue Manatee Press, Cincinnati, OH.

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NEW FROM BLUE MANATEE PRESS.

 

 

 

 

Filed under: 4stars, Board Books, Debut Author, Library Donated Books, NonFiction Tagged: animals, baby, basic concepts, bedtime, Blue Manatee Press, children's book reviews, colors, counting 1 to 10, home learning, Sarah Jones, shapes, story time, toddler

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By Rainer Foelix

Spiders are not exactly renowned for being colorful animals. Admittedly, most of the more than 40,000 spider species are rather drab looking. However, there are certainly several hundred species which are lively colored, e. g. bright red or bright green, and some are very colorful indeed. For instance, the so-called “peacock-spider” that shows a wide range of iridescent blue and green color hues, reminiscent of the plumage of peacocks or humming birds.

How do those colors in spiders come about?  Usually they are due to certain pigments deposited in the cuticle of their exo-skeleton or the underlying epidermis cells. Some spiders appear bright green or red or yellow, due to pigment granules. Other spiders contain crystalline deposits of guanine and strongly reflect the incoming light, either pure white or bright silvery. And often coloration is not really caused by pigments but is due to a special light diffraction (interference) in their cuticle. A very fine lamellation in the nanometer range causes a shift of the wavelength of the incoming light and thus a whole spectrum of colors  appears in the outgoing light. We all know this phenomenon from other natural objects such as mother-of-pearl, butterfly wings, or bird feathers. In spiders, such iridescent colors have been known for a long time but only in the last few years were they studied in detail.



• Figure One

   

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  A small crab spider (Diaea), mostly green, but with a red abdomen.

• Figure Two

   

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  Abdomen of a jumping spider (Phidippus) with red hairs and black scales.

• Figure Three

   

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  Male jumping spider (Phidippus) with iridescent green chelicerae.

• Figure Four

   

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  Leg segments of a tarantula (Poecilotheria) with blue and yellow hairs.

• Figure Five

   

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  Blue hairs of a tarantula (Poecilotheria) undr the electron microscope. The ridges of the hair shaft (left) consist of a fine cuticular meshwork (right) that causes the iridescence of these hairs.

• Figure Six

   

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  Peacock spiders (Maratus sp.) are among the most colorful jumping spiders. Most colors originate from iridescent hairs or scales.

Among the jumping spiders are some species where the mouth parts (chelicerae) are strongly iridescent: reddish-purple in the females and blue-green in the males. In that case it is the layering of the cheliceral cuticle that is responsible for the brilliant coloration. In some other species these interference colors reside entirely in hairs or scales of the body. This is for instance the case in those most colorful peacock spiders, where some scales change from blue over turquoise to green, and others from yellow to purple and golden. Under the electron microscope  those hairs and scales exhibit  a meshwork of thin layers that ultimately produces these structural colors. These shiny colors are much more pronounced in males than in females (as in most birds) and it is very likely that they play a crucial role in the visual courtship dances that the male performs in front of a female.

Somewhat surprisingly, such iridescent colors also occur in the large tarantulas. Several species are deep blue  and they are in high esteem (and highly priced!) among tarantula keepers. Some species may have additionally bright yellow hairs on their legs or golden-green hairs on their abdomen. Since most tarantulas are active at night, it is a bit puzzling why they are colorful at all. Their courtship is not visual but tactile, and no predator would be warned by bright colors that can only be seen under day light. So, it may well be that there is no specific purpose for having conspicuous colors, at least not in tarantulas. Perhaps the situation is comparable to colorful organisms living in the dark abyss of the oceans, in which colors only show up under illumination.

Since 14 March is Save-a-Spider-Day, let these colorful spiders brighten your day, or, as the old English saying goes: “If you want to live and thrive, let a spider run alive.”

Rainer Foelix is recognized as an authority on spiders. He studied Biology in both Germany and Switzerland and earned his PhD in Zoology. His is also the author of Biology of Spiders, now in its third edition.

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Image Credit: Figures one, two, three, and four by B. Erb. Figures five and six by R. Foelix

The post Colorful spiders? appeared first on OUPblog.

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sketchbook

watercolor sketch

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 5 Stars Out of the Blue—Something that happens suddenly and without any warning, totally unexpectedly. ..It was a beautiful day when a .........................storm came up out of the blue. ......................... Out of the Blue helps young children understand the concept of idioms.  Idioms are words that have one obvious meaning, but can also describe something [...]

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Adding Custom Colors to your blog just got simpler than ever! Now you can change your entire color scheme with the single click of a button. Color has impact: it sets context and should complement your message.

You’ll find the most popular palettes and patterns from COLOURlovers are sure to delight whether you want to paint the town red or always bet on black.

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To get started, go to Appearance → Themes, click the Live Preview links or the Customize button for your current theme, and select the Colors & Backgrounds panel. Custom Colors is part of the Custom Design upgrade. When you save changes, your colors will be stored and then you can apply them live on your blog once you have purchased the upgrade. See the Custom Colors help page for more details.

Whether you want something bold, understated, or with just enough oomph, you can make your message stand out from the crowd by selecting colors that fit your style.

Choose your colors with purpose. Worlds of difference await!

13 Comments on Go Ahead—Add a Splash of Color, last added: 7/11/2012

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