Review by Booklist Review
Carrots are ORANGE. They are also PURPLE, opens this original concept book that illustrates colors using photos of fruits and vegetables. The next double-page spread says, Look what else can be PURPLE! and it shows 13 more purple foods as individual photos set against a white background. Tiny words beside each image name the specific fruit or vegetable. Setting up the pattern for the remainder of the book, the next pages point out that plums are purple but they are also RED, leading into a spread that features foods such as an Ozark Beauty strawberry, a Bing cherry, and an Adirondack Red potato. In striving for simplicity, concept books can be a bit dull, but Bass surprises her audience with the unpredictability of reality, backing up her statements with beautiful photos. This well-designed title steps away from the narrow view that apples are red and steps into the seemingly infinite range of colors and varieties in the world.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Bass presents a "rainbow of edible colors" in this attractive introduction to colors and grown food. Each two-page spread follows the same format: a photo of a familiar fruit or vegetable is presented, followed by its more exotic counterpart. For instance, Bass informs readers that "Carrots are ORANGE. They are also PURPLE" and includes a photo of a deep purple carrot. Stating, "Look what else can be PURPLE!" she then goes on to provide images of purple corn, a black velvet apricot, blue podded peas, and more. The book contains examples of red, green, yellow, blue, and black, and readers will enjoy lush, attractive images of a red watermelon, a red Dacca banana, a green Gage plum, a Mexican lime, a yellow Amarillo watermelon, Anne yellow raspberries, Russian Blue potatoes, and many more. Other titles with similar themes or style include Bruce McMillan's Growing Colors (HarperCollins, 1988) and Lois Ehlert's Eating the Alphabet (Houghton Harcourt, 1989). This well-designed book is ideal as an independent reader or as an addition to storytimes focusing on colors or food.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This photographic study of color introduces both widely known and unusual fruits and vegetables. "Carrots are ORANGE. / They are also PURPLE. // Look what else can be PURPLE!" Against white backgrounds, crisp photographs are captioned with the produce's common names. Purple Passion asparagus, Royal Burgundy beans and a Black Velvet apricot vie for readers' eyes on a crowded double-page spread; layouts illustrating the colors blue and black feature fewer specimens and more white space. Unusual, well-chosen examples such as the Red Dacca banana, Louisiana Long Green eggplant, and the fabulous, many-tentacled Buddha's Hand citron challenge readers' assumptions about familiar fruits and veggies and expand their knowledge of rarer varieties. Bass' groupings illustrate the fact that a color's name approximates, rather than pinpoints, its essential attributes. Thus, the Adirondack Blue and Russian Blue potatoes could easily have joined the purple denizens rather than reside with the blues. And the Black Beauty eggplant and Jewel black raspberries are, arguably, highly pigmented versions of the color purple. Two kale varietiesRedbor and Lacinatoare captioned as "Redbar" and "Lacinto." Clusters and groups are sometimes pluralized ("Jersey blueberries"), sometimes not ("Latham raspberry.") There's no attempt to depict scaleso a Calabrese broccoli is shown about half the size of a Bartlett pear. Quibbles aside, this volume presents appetizing produce in an engaging array. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
