Peter H. Reynolds has a knack for not only celebrating, but going all out to encourage creativity and self expression in young readers and artists. This creative element makes his picture books a joy to read, share and absorb.
Beginning with The Dot, then Ish, Sky Colour completes this confidence boosting trilogy.
Marisol loves painting, she really is quite a creative young thing and immerses herself in all things arty. Marisol even has her own art gallery on the kitchen fridge. Marisol is just so excited when her teacher announces that the class will be creating a mural, and she quickly volunteers to paint the sky. BUT – there’s no blue paint!?!
Cue a wonderful collection of pages as Marisol observes the sky and its delightful myraid of colours … without a hint of blue peeking through. Glorious oranges and yellows shine through on her way home, day turns into night and the following morning brings a rain filled sky. All of them bring perfect inspiration for Marisol’s mural.
Reynold’s illustrations have a quirky, confident quality to them. His portraits capture his characters’ expressions and thoughts eloquently. He uses colour sparingly in the opening pages, delicately providing focus on the black and white pencil illustrations. As the story progresses, Reynolds allows the vibrancy of his colours to grow in tune Marisol’s observations and confidence.
Reynold’s gentle manner encourages us all to look around, observe and take pleasure in the little things – it’s the philosophy which makes his books so enjoyable, optimistic and wonderfully uplifting.
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