Green

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a concept book about all of the various colors of green.  Green won a Caldecott Honor this year.  That means it will have a shiny silver sticker on it.  That means the pictures in this book are pretty amazing.  That means kids will automatically enjoy this book b/c the pictures are pretty amazing.

With this book being a "concept" book about the color green I think it makes for a very useful book as a read aloud to Kindergarten and First Grades.  The teacher could easily use this book for Word Choice lessons talking about adding words to describe better.  Green is a color, but forest green is more descriptive; that is just one of the many examples found in this book.  After reading this book the reader will realize how many different greens are out there.  A teacher could then have students make a book about all of the different reds, blues, purples, or yellows out there.  Green is a great read aloud for the school aged kids, but this would make a great gift for a toddler or preschool aged kid because it's a concept book and has beautiful pictures.  

I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.  This book has beautiful picutres; the pictures truly make the book.  Plus, I think the cut outs on each page that connect with the next page are pretty cool; it is very creative, and my toddler loves the cut outs.  I did think a couple of the "greens" were a little weak, and I think the 2 pages that let the reader come up with the adjective for the green on the page was early in the book.  These are the reasons for the not perfect score.  If Seeger had done the "make up your own greens" a bit later in the book it would've made it a lot easier to understand and avoided confusion.  With the current setup the reader is confused for a little bit while he/she figures out what Seeger is wanting the reader to do here.  It's a good thing to get the readers actively involved, but you have to guide the reader a bit more before you let them on their own.  

Amazon had the following book description for Green:

"Die cut pages bring surprise after surprise in this magical new book from the "Queen of the concept book"—an intricate and satisfying homage to green, the color of all creation.

 

How many kinds of green are there? There's the lush green of a forest on a late spring day, the fresh, juicy green of a just-cut lime, the incandescent green of a firefly, and the vivid aquamarine of a tropical sea. In her newest book, Caldecott and Geisel Honor Book author Laura Vaccaro Seeger fashions an homage to a single color and, in doing so, creates a book that will delight and, quite possibly astonish you."  

Therefore, if you are looking for a beautiful concept book then go check this one out.  Your kids will love the pictures, and you will have tons to discuss with them as you read it.  That is a win-win for everyone.