Vivid: Poems & Notes About Color

PreS-Gr 3—Paschkis has created a book of color poems that also ponders the science and art of color. Fourteen poems highlight a variety of shades on the spectrum and culminate with a rainbow poem. Along the way, Paschkis shares facts and information about the colors chosen. The poems are short and clever. For purple, she writes, "I'm a Lilac Point Siamese with no fleas…I purr: I am not purrple. I'm a lilac queen, serene." She then adds, "Violet is the color with the shortest wavelength of visible light. In ancient times…it took about 243,000 snails to make one ounce of dye…that sold for three times its weight in gold. Only kings and queens could afford to wear purple." Paschkis uses broad strokes of color to create her exciting watercolor illustrations. The lively verse and intriguing facts make vivid a most appropriate name for this collection. It is sure to delight lovers of poetry as well as collectors of fascinating facts and will make for an engaging introduction to science for younger readers. Teachers might pair this title with Mary O'Neill's classic Hailstones and Halibut Bones: Adventures in Poetry and Color or Jane Yolen's Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People.