THE BLACK BOOK OF COLORS

The Black Book of Colors

Written by: Menena Cottin

Illustrated by: Rosana Faria

Translated by: Elisa Amado

Groundwood/House of Anansi Press, 2006

22 Pages

Nonfiction

            This book was recommended to me by a friend I work with who happens to know the books I really enjoy. This book definitely fits the category and is a magnificent and poetic book. The book is a story about perceptions on colors and smells. The story is about Thomas, who is blind, and how he sees colors and smells. Each color, for Thomas, is like a taste or a texture and when they all come together a rainbow or horizon is created. Since the book has no color and only braille and lifted drawings the story is told and shown prospectively and holds deep meaning.

            The illustrations in this story are very unique because there are no colors, but instead raised textures for sensory insight. The best way to “look” at the illustrations is to close your eyes and to take in the perceptions the text holds. Without the illustrations the story would lose its meaning for most readers.

           

            In 2007 The Black Book of Colors won the New Horizons prize and it is well deserved.  I would use this book for children of all ages for it contains lessons that could appropriately fit all. For the younger grades, I would use the story for lessons on senses and on braille. For the older grade levels I would use it for comparing and contrasting, sensory, and higher level thinking on perspectives.