Review by luzb -- What's Your Favorite Color?
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luzb
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- Latest Review: What's Your Favorite Color? by Amber L Lassiter
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Review by luzb -- What's Your Favorite Color?
[Following is a volunteer review of "What's Your Favorite Color?" by Amber L Lassiter.]
4 out of 4 stars
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One fine school day, the students of Mrs. Lassiter came to her class feeling excited for a special treat. Today, they were to create paintings like Picasso using their favorite colors. Their classroom was even decorated differently today. A white tarp covered the floor like sand on the beach and on top of it were easels for each of the students whose portraits were hung in golden frames along the wall. On top of these portraits was a huge banner saying, “Meet Our Picassos!” Amber, one of the students, was very thrilled about this day too. She came to school wearing something that represented her favorite color following what their teacher told them previously. But then she discovers that she forgot her watercolors at home leading her to borrow colors from her classmates.
This is where the story of this little book, What’s Your Favorite Color? by Amber L. Lassiter, takes off. Amber goes to her classmates, from one to another, to borrow colors for her painting and there she encounters reactions that brought out from herself so many kinds of emotions and reactions as well. From the prompts that appear at the bottom of almost every page, the author encourages her young readers to name these emotions and reactions based on how they were described in the page and on the illustrations likewise. It is not merely a book to read but a book to work on as well. The book provided spaces for readers to write down or illustrate their answers to questions posed at the end of a page.
Besides learning to empathize with someone else’s feelings and predicament, I believe the author also attempts to teach other skills to young children. By asking questions like what does “moving one’s head from side to side” or “cupping one’s hand to her ear” mean, she encourages a sense of observation, reasoning and drawing out conclusions. She also teaches young readers to notice non-verbal cues and body language and to learn their meanings. If a child does not have these skills yet, the book would leave him or her wondering, thus encouraging one to think. At the same time, the author asks what certain words or phrases mean, which also tests the young reader’s comprehension and teaches them new words of expression.
More than anything else and most importantly, I believe, the author emphasized values that I believe we should teach our kids early on in their lives. Despite the challenges she faced along the way, Amber displayed a strong sense of knowledge and belief in herself. Her encounters with her friends did not cause her to waiver or doubt herself.
I like the book for what the author wanted to impart and achieve and she did it in very subtle ways. I wondered how all these learnings were packed in just a few pages. The book is easy to read, and I believe children from eight to twelve years of age would enjoy reading it and answering the questions as I enjoyed reading it. Each time I turned the page, I discovered new learnings and lessons that would be good for our children. For the values and the skills it promotes and teaches, I am giving this book a rating of four out four stars.
I also enjoyed the illustrations which were appropriate and precise to the text of the book. At one point, Amber’s friend, Liz, assured her that her secret is safe with her while sliding her fingers across her lips, the thumb and index finger squeezed together. But when Amber turns away from her, she reverses the gesture. Liz slides her fingers back across in the opposite direction. The question at the end of the page asks whether the reader believes Liz could make good her promise to keep Amber’s secret. The answer could be gleaned by the reader precisely from the gestures just described. The illustrations provide a visual aide so that the reader could picture what the book describes in words. I felt that the characters’ expressions as illustrated were precise to what has been described, from Amber’s wide-eyed, frustrated expression to Liz’s mischievous stance.
******
What's Your Favorite Color?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
4 out of 4 stars
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One fine school day, the students of Mrs. Lassiter came to her class feeling excited for a special treat. Today, they were to create paintings like Picasso using their favorite colors. Their classroom was even decorated differently today. A white tarp covered the floor like sand on the beach and on top of it were easels for each of the students whose portraits were hung in golden frames along the wall. On top of these portraits was a huge banner saying, “Meet Our Picassos!” Amber, one of the students, was very thrilled about this day too. She came to school wearing something that represented her favorite color following what their teacher told them previously. But then she discovers that she forgot her watercolors at home leading her to borrow colors from her classmates.
This is where the story of this little book, What’s Your Favorite Color? by Amber L. Lassiter, takes off. Amber goes to her classmates, from one to another, to borrow colors for her painting and there she encounters reactions that brought out from herself so many kinds of emotions and reactions as well. From the prompts that appear at the bottom of almost every page, the author encourages her young readers to name these emotions and reactions based on how they were described in the page and on the illustrations likewise. It is not merely a book to read but a book to work on as well. The book provided spaces for readers to write down or illustrate their answers to questions posed at the end of a page.
Besides learning to empathize with someone else’s feelings and predicament, I believe the author also attempts to teach other skills to young children. By asking questions like what does “moving one’s head from side to side” or “cupping one’s hand to her ear” mean, she encourages a sense of observation, reasoning and drawing out conclusions. She also teaches young readers to notice non-verbal cues and body language and to learn their meanings. If a child does not have these skills yet, the book would leave him or her wondering, thus encouraging one to think. At the same time, the author asks what certain words or phrases mean, which also tests the young reader’s comprehension and teaches them new words of expression.
More than anything else and most importantly, I believe, the author emphasized values that I believe we should teach our kids early on in their lives. Despite the challenges she faced along the way, Amber displayed a strong sense of knowledge and belief in herself. Her encounters with her friends did not cause her to waiver or doubt herself.
I like the book for what the author wanted to impart and achieve and she did it in very subtle ways. I wondered how all these learnings were packed in just a few pages. The book is easy to read, and I believe children from eight to twelve years of age would enjoy reading it and answering the questions as I enjoyed reading it. Each time I turned the page, I discovered new learnings and lessons that would be good for our children. For the values and the skills it promotes and teaches, I am giving this book a rating of four out four stars.
I also enjoyed the illustrations which were appropriate and precise to the text of the book. At one point, Amber’s friend, Liz, assured her that her secret is safe with her while sliding her fingers across her lips, the thumb and index finger squeezed together. But when Amber turns away from her, she reverses the gesture. Liz slides her fingers back across in the opposite direction. The question at the end of the page asks whether the reader believes Liz could make good her promise to keep Amber’s secret. The answer could be gleaned by the reader precisely from the gestures just described. The illustrations provide a visual aide so that the reader could picture what the book describes in words. I felt that the characters’ expressions as illustrated were precise to what has been described, from Amber’s wide-eyed, frustrated expression to Liz’s mischievous stance.
******
What's Your Favorite Color?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: What's Your Favorite Color? by Amber L Lassiter
