Roses are Red, Are Violets Blue??
Alice and Martin Provensen ~ Random House, 1973
Though it's a far cry from What Is A Color? (one of my top 20 Holy Grail books), I was happy to come across this paperback recently in lieu of. Some day, my friends... some day.
Anywho... I just love the Provensens, no matter what the collectiblity of the title is. (Who wouldn't?) Plus, I've always had a soft spot for "First Books of Color". It's such an exciting concept to share with children for the first time. Even though my son mastered turning red and yellow into orange long ago, I never tire of watching the pride bloom on his face when he tells me what the mixture makes. And so...
In my indigo mood
I'm nasty, I'm rude.
I'm green with envy,
I'm red with rage.
I'm a terrible fellow,
I'm yellow.
My color is ashen,
I'm purple with passion,
I'm white with fear.
Boo-hoo! I'm blue.
I'm a dark brown study,
I'm a MUDDY FUDDY-DUDDY.
Each page holds a new poem about color told in a way that makes it very different from your usual run-of-the-mill color rag, as evidenced above.
You have to love a book that asks the question, "What color are the blue-eyed girl's eyes when she is wearing her rose-colored glasses?" The husband and wife team was just as good at the writing as they were at illustrating which makes any book they both authored and drew a special find. Really, these guys are one of the main reasons the search is so much fun!
Also by:
A Child's Garden of Verses
Funny Bunny
Fireside Book of Folk Songs
The Mother Goose Book
Animal Fair
My Little Hen
Our Friends at Maple Hill Farm
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5 comments:
i had totally forgotten this one until the men's faces and the poem...brought back some crazy memories! thanks for sharing, scribbler!
Looks fun... very 60s/70s :)
Thank you! This book has been running through my head (and my six year old's too) and we cannot find it on our bookshelf.
I was thrilled to finally find this book a while back. I'd been combing used bookstores for years with no info on it except the memory of a red bird carrying red berries & blue bird w/blueberries & a jar of purple jam.
LOVE IT !!
I have been looking for the title of this book for literally decades. I could only remember the last line: "Signed, Yours Sincerely, the Rainbow Trout" and that took me to a forum that had another line which this page also had, along with the title! Thank you! - Rob A.
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