The glimmering blue surface of a pool, the verdant ripple of the trees and the ruby-red shine of a snow cone — summer is a reminder that life is better in color. At the Daniel Boone Regional Library, you can read vibrantly with our Summer Reading program; this year’s theme is “Color Our World.”
Summer Reading begins on May 30 and is open to all ages and reading levels. While reading this summer, you can pick up rewards as you finish books and activities. Additionally, readers can enter drawings for bigger prizes.
For Ages 0-5
Even as an adult, I love how picture books can weave art and color through their plots. In “A Rainbow in Brown,” Pavonis Giron’s swirling colored pencil illustrations explain basic color theory to young artists. “The Song of the Nightingale” by Tanya Landman includes lush watercolor paintings to explain the brilliant colors of our world. Both are a treat for children and those reading to them.
Surprisingly for this theme, I want to recommend a book in black and white. “Find Colors” by Tamara Shopsin and Jason Fulford features a die-cut window on every page, inviting children to peek through and find color in their own world.
For Ages 5-8
Colors, shapes and patterns hold their own stories — like in “Poppy’s Family Patterns” by Lauren Semner. Patching a toy’s dress leads Poppy into her mother’s scrap bin. There, she discovers a menagerie of memories in the scraps. Perfect for young crafters, this book shows how a simple patch can enrich our lives.
For elementary-aged naturalists, any of Alicia Klepeis’s “Science Behind the Colors” books are perfect for exploring Technicolor wildlife. Additionally, “Green on Green” by Dianne White is a richly illustrated, rhyming exploration of how the seasons change the colors of the natural world.
For Ages 9-12
Okay, but honestly — where does color even come from? “What Is Color?” by Steven Weinberg breaks down the histories of colors and pigments. Additionally, curious tweens should try a few experiments from “How To Be a Color Wizard” by Jason Logan to fill an afternoon with nearly magical creations of green-golden ink and moving, capillary rainbows.
Fiction readers should try “The Edge of In Between” by Lorelei Savarin. It retells “The Secret Garden” with a fantasy twist. Lottie and the other residents of Vivelle have technicolor magical powers, but when Lottie’s parents pass away, she is sent to live with her uncle and the rest of the Living Gray. Will she ever rediscover her own colorful magic?
For Teens
Graphic novels uniquely benefit from color. “The Faint of Heart” by Kerilynn Wilson splashes blues, oranges and yellows across June’s gray world, where everyone else has surgically removed their hearts. While she is the last person to feel pain and sadness, she is the world’s last hope to find beauty and brightness. For stunningly vibrant scenes, try “Strange Bedfellows” by Ariel Slamet Ries. Dreams become reality in this kaleidoscopic fusion of magic, romance and intergalactic adventure.
For colorful characters — in some cases literally —try “When the World Tips Over,” by Jandy Nelson. Told in multiple points of view and using media clippings, the story immerses readers in the lives of three siblings as they receive mysterious, maybe magical, intervention from a rainbow-haired stranger. Resulting in a mystical road-trip, this story is a vivid and mesmerizing summer read.
For Adults
Adults interested in global and historical perspectives should check out Imani Perry’s celebrated “Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People.” Perry weaves a complicated and winding story of the role of the color blue in black art, culture and history with lyrical prose. She extends the ephemeral, almost personal nature of color to global history in a poetic exploration of a single color’s meaning in human history.
On the fictional end, “Hester” by Laurie Lico Albanese retells “The Scarlet Letter” through the eyes of Isobel Gamble, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s alleged inspiration. Isobel, who experiences synesthesia, encounters sounds as color. Her unique, perhaps supernatural, perspective inspires her masterful work as a seamstress but isolates her in early America’s strict and judgmental society.
Finally, I must recommend a work from an infamous lover of color — “Colorful” by Iris Apfel. Apfel became an internet phenomenon through her flamboyantly colorful style. This book, published shortly before her death, traces her artistic influences. Like Apfel, everyone can find joy and inspiration in color, and there is no better place to start than the library.
