Swatch The Girl Who Loved Color
This book captivated my heart as it's about being fearlessly creative. Swatch loves color, and she goes boldly out into the world on a daily mission to tame and posses all the shades of color in the world.
Bold swirling strokes of paint smear and splatter confidently across every page - in fact this book is a celebration of ALL color. Bravest Green, In-Between Gray, Just-Laid Blue, and Rumble-Tumble Pink are key players, but the real star of the show proves to be Yellowest Yellow. Yellow never gets much play as a favorite color though it's so sunny and happy. I like that it gets a moment in the spotlight here, being one of the most elusive and wild of all the colors Swatch tries to tame.
Julia Denos has illustrated other beautiful books, but this is her first publication as an author/illustrator, and I find it so inspiring! I will be giving this as a gift at a lot of birthday parties! I love the protagonist's wild spirit and bravery, and how she finds the extraordinary within tiny details of everyday life. As a real treat, Denos offers some fun free projects for home or the classroom to go with the book. She has a download of a Color Tamer's mask you can make, as well as coloring pages and a face painting guide. Maybe I'll be a Color Tamer for Halloween this year, Rainbow Mouth looks pretty fun.
Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once he grows up." I believe this too. All the kids I've watched draw come up with imaginative original work. Somewhere along the way they may be discouraged of the practice, and give it up. I think drawing is like playing an instrument, or a sport. With time, dedication, and practice, anyone can enjoy it for life. I like that this book encourages us to become artists, to be bold and brave with mark-making, and to have fun with creativity.
