One Yellow Ribbon

PreS-Gr 2—This wordless board book from the creator of One Patch of Blue is a visual treat. It begins with cover art depicting a dark-skinned girl in two braids tied with yellow ribbon. The first page shows the ribbon untied, looping and rippling as if trying to escape. The collage illustrations use actual ribbons on every page as they morph into a lion's mane, a pencil, a flower, a cane, an animal's stripe, a dress, and, finally, the moon. Jocelyn uses the ribbon creatively, taking advantage of its physical versatility. For the flower, she folds it; for an animal stripe, she ripples it; for the flute, she adds colored ovals to represent the holes and keys; and for the dress, she significantly enlarges the ribbon. The book is visually fascinating, with simple backgrounds that encourage viewers to focus on the main image the ribbon inhabits. While the concept of the various uses of the ribbon may be sophisticated for the board book audience, the images themselves are very accessible. Additionally, they can serve an older audience as a creativity prompt, either to talk or write about what else Jocelyn could have done with it, or for the children to create art themselves. As such, several copies might be necessary in order to serve multiple populations.