Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds
This is another charmer of a picture book from Reynolds who wrote the popular Ish and The Dot. Marisol considers herself an artist. She paints lots of pictures, carries art supplies with her, and sees an artist in everyone. So Marisol is thrilled when she learns that their next project will be a class mural. Marisol wants to paint the sky. The only problem is that there’s no blue paint. How can she paint the sky without any blue? Happily, the sky itself shows all of the colors possible to Marisol and she is inspired to paint the sky in many colors.
Reynolds uses simple text very successfully here, just as he has in his previous books. This book is all about embracing the inner artist, expressing creativity, and finding inspiration in the world around you. These are huge concepts that Reynolds makes tangible and possible even for young children to get inspired by. A great idea would be to share the book with children and then have everyone paint the sky without using blue.
Reynolds successfully turns just a few lines into great illustrations that capture emotions and full characters. Many of the pages are black and white with bursts of color, but when artistic inspiration strikes, the colors bloom.
Clever, colorful and filled with artistic inspiration for young readers. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from library copy.
Waking Brain Cells 
