Colour makes the world go round by Christopher Nielsen

Colour Makes the World Go Round is a bold and vibrant picture book which thoughtfully and ingeniously asks the question: 'What would the world be like without colour?' It has a spectacular cover with embossed letters that draw readers into a fascinating journey of a world with and without colour.

Beginning and ending with striking green and white endpapers showing zebras with reverse stripes, the illustrations cleverly extend across a double page with one half in colour and the other in black and white. The young child asks questions about where the colour has gone from a number of images including themselves, a scarf, a rainbow, and autumn leaves. They decide that a world without colour is not much fun, as colour makes us both different and the same. So, a little magic is required to bring back colour to the world. The reader is encouraged to say some magic words, tap the book, and turn the page and lo and behold! the colour is back, as beautiful and luminous as ever.

This highly engaging book will be a wonderful classroom resource to encourage children to use their imaginations to explore what their world might look like without colour.

Themes: Children, Colours, Animals, Plants, Nature, Diversity.

Kathryn Beilby