The Colors of Nature

Gr 1-3–This book successfully brings together two complementary ideas. First, readers learn how the sun’s white light is separated into different color wavelengths. These wavelengths either “sink into” or “bounce off” objects to create the colors we see. Second, readers are introduced to the varied colors that can be seen in nature and learn fascinating facts about the stunning colorful world of animals, plants, and natural features such as rivers, clouds, stars, and planets. As a result, information about color is joined with an impressive array of fascinating illustrations and text. The text both informs and surprises. For example, a spread entitled “Wonderful white” shows ­illustrations and descriptions of white plants, animals, clouds, and sand dunes. Readers also learn that polar bears may look white, but their skin is actually black, and their white hair is hollow and full of air. The ­illustrations also delight. A section entitled “Gorgeous green” includes illustrations of animals, such as a green-blooded skink, a sloth, a green iguana, and a green bee-eater, which is actually a bird. Readers learn the surprising fact that green algae grows on a sloth’s damp fur and serves to camouflage it from predators lurking in trees.