Froggy green by Anna Walker

Puffin Books, 2017. ISBN 9780143785835
(Ages: 0-3) Board Book. Colours. This is a very simple book about colour and its vivid illustrations are a standout. It starts by stating, 'Everyone likes different colours', and then shows us some children and the colour that they like (e.g. 'Sam likes fireman red'). Each page shows the child and their favourite colour; for example, Olive who likes fairy pink is shown in a pink dress and is surrounded by pink flowers. Unfortunately, the page showing Charlie, who likes monster purple, may be misleading to toddlers. In each other instance, the named thing is the focus colour (sunshine yellow, froggy green, sky blue, etc.), but the monster is white on a purple background. Even Charlie, dressed as a monster, has nothing purple on. Polka-dot orange is another tenuous colour-object link but it does at least feature some orange polka-dots. The book finishes with the assertion that everyone loves rainbow icecream and the children are shown flying a rainbow-coloured kite and wearing an array of different colours. The last page asks the reader, 'Which colour do you like?' prompting a caregiver-child discussion about colour. When reading colour concept books children enjoy many opportunities to point to and name things they recognise. This also helps them to build object-colour associations. While this is a beautiful book, admirable in its simplicity, it is lacking in this regard. It may not engage children as much or solicit as much adult-child interaction as some other books in this genre.
Nicole Nelson