Books For Independent Reading
Books for the Library Corner
Colors Around Us- by Shelley Rotner and Anne Woodhull
Simon 1996 (16p)
In this lift-the-flap book, photographs reveal the dazzling range of colors in the world around us.
- Cat's Colors
- by Jane Cabrera
Dial 1997 (32p)
A tiger cat describes ten different colors in his world and tells which is his favorite in this bright book.
- Wildflower ABC
- by Diana Pomeroy
Harcourt 1997 (32p)
Potato prints of wildflowers are accompanied by each flower's name and its appropriate alphabet letter in upper and lower case.
- What Color Was the Sky Today?
- by Miela Ford
Greenwillow 1997 (24p)
A young child observes the different colors in the sky and sees a rainbow as the weather changes from clear to cloudy to rainy and back again.
- Cat Among the Cabbages
- by Alison Bartlett
Dutton 1997 (24p)
A white cat walks through a blue gate, leaps after a yellow butterfly, and struts past pink piglets on its way to a barn that's filled with black-and-white kittens.
- Kente Colors
- by Debbi Chocolate
(Multicultural)
Walker 1996 (32p)
Rhyming text celebrates the traditional kente cloth made by the peoples of Ghana and Togo.
- White Rabbit's Color Book
- by Alan Baker
Kingfisher 1994 (28p)
A rabbit explores color with red, yellow, and blue buckets of paint.
- Color Farm
- by Lois Ehlert
Lippincott 1990 (40p)
Geometric shapes and bold colors combine to create different farm animals.
Books for Teachers to Read Aloud
- Chidi Only Likes Blue: An African Book of Colors
- by Ifeoma Onyefulu
(Multicultural)
Cobblehill 1997 (32p)
Chidi's favorite color is blue, but his older sister teaches him about the other colors they see in their Nigerian village, from the yellow gari grains they eat to the pink flowers around their home.
- The Purple Hat
- by Tracey Campbell Pearson
Farrar 1997 (32p)
When Annie wears her new purple hat to school and loses it, her family, classmates, and even the entire town join the search for it.
- Booby Hatch
- by Betsy Lewin
(Science)
Clarion 1996 (32p) also paper
On an island in the Galapagos, a blue-footed Booby named Pepé grows from a hatchling into a mature adult.
- Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
- by Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow 1996 (32p)
When Lilly takes a new, music-playing purple plastic purse to school, her eagerness to show it off gets her into trouble with her beloved teacher Mr. Slinger.
- Brother Wolf: A Seneca Tale
- by Harriet Peck Taylor
(Multicultural)
Farrar 1996 (32p)
In this tale from the Seneca, Wolf rewards his bird friends for helping him by painting them the beautiful colors of wildflowers.
- The Red Racer
- by Audrey Wood
Simon 1996 (32p)
Nona tries to get rid of her old, battered bike so that she can get the Deluxe Red Racer that she sees in a store window.
- Elmer in the Snow
- by David McKee
Lothrop 1996 (32p)
When his friends complain of being cold, Elmer, the colorful patchwork elephant, takes them to a mountaintop to see what snow is like.
- Henry and the Red Stripes
- by Eileen Christelow
Clarion 1982 (32p)
After an encounter with a fox, Henry, a brown rabbit who paints himself with red stripes, understands why rabbits should be brown.
Books for Shared Reading
- The Crayon Counting Book
- by Pam Muñoz Ryan
(Math)
Charlesbridge 1996 (32p) also paper
Rhyming text helps children count different colored crayons by even and odd numbers.
- A Red Wagon Year
- by Kathi Appelt
Harcourt 1996 (26p)
A group of neighborhood children turn a red wagon into a turtle's nest in April, a parade float in July, and a spaceship in October.
- Three Yellow Dogs
- by Caron Lee Cohen
Mulberry paper 1997 (24p)
In only five words, the adventures of three yellow dogs are described as they run and play.
- They Thought They Saw Him
- by Craig Strete
Greenwillow 1996 (32p)
A chameleon uses his ability to change color to hide from a snake, an owl, a fox, and a boy who are pursuing him.
- My Crayons Talk
- by Patricia Hubbard
Holt 1996 (32p)
Catchy rhyming verse celebrates color as a child imagines her crayons talking.
- Moo Moo, Brown Cow
- by Jakki Wood
Harcourt 1992 (28p)
As readers are introduced to baby animals and their mothers, they learn colors and numbers.
- The Big Red Bus
- by Judy Hindley
Candlewick 1995 (32p)
When one of the wheels on a red bus gets stuck, it causes a cumulative traffic jam.
Now Available in Paperback
- Of Colors and Things
- by Tana Hoban
Mulberry
- Kente Colors
- by Debbi Chocolate
Walker
- The Green Queen
- by Nick Sharrat
Candlewick
- Yellow Ball
- by Molly Bang
Puffin
Now Available in Spanish
- Mouse Paint (Pinta ratones)
- by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Childrens
- Freight Train
- by Donald Crews
Mulberry
- I Went Walking
- by Sue Williams
Harcourt
- Mouse Paint
- by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Harcourt
Now Available as a Big Book
- Planting a Rainbow
- by Lois Ehlert
Harcourt
Now Out of Print
- A Fishy Color Story
- by Joanne and David Wylie