Every Color

September 15, 2016
A polar bears searches for colors beyond white.Bear lives "at the top of the world," which is made of white ice and white snow. The animals, including whales, are white or light gray (though all have faintly pink cheeks); even the ocean's light gray. Bear yearns for colors. A sea gull requests help from a brown-skinned, round-faced girl with straight dark hair who lives elsewhere (readers never learn where). She collects Bear in a skiff and takes him traveling. They see a Dutch windmill, the Blue Mosque, the Taj Mahal, and much more. Countries and sights aren't named, though the copyright page lists them. Pages show a white background behind irregularly shaped travel scenes; each page's scenes emphasize one hue. As pages turn, the scene-shapes shift through the rainbow spectrum, quenching Bear's color thirst. Kono's premise is more trope than truth, because the real Arctic has many hues. A confusing moral appears. Supposedly the Arctic "always had" colors, and Bear had "just needed to learn how to see them," but the only new Arctic-environment colors to appear--not Bear's (new) paintings nor the illustrations' confettilike decoration--are the northern lights; they appear in one gorgeous, stunning spread, and it's hard to believe that Bear's never seen them before. A bit touristy and perplexing in its lesson but cheerfully enjoyable--and worth it for that northern lights spread. (Picture book. 3-6)

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November 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-The snowy white world of the Far North has an unhappy resident-Bear, a polar bear longing for color and deeply depressed at the lack of it in his icy surroundings. With the help of a passing seagull, a young artist and sailor comes to the rescue with a boat tour to show Bear the colors of the world: "They [travel] beyond distant shores, up rivers and down," in the air and on water. Mixed-media digital collage art accentuates the color against the grays and white of the North Sea. Beginning with highlighted landmarks of Europe and ending with the wonders of the ocean depths and monuments of the Americas, the book presents the young artist's small pen and watercolor paintings in a briefly worded travelogue that follows Bear and friend. Slowly changing hues from the artist's palette-red, yellow, green, blue, and purple-highlight each drawing, images and sites that range across all continents and oceans and end with Bear's arrival home. The "aurora polaris" finally displays the rainbow of colors previously missed but that have always been a part of his Arctic world. VERDICT A recommended general purchase for all libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Grades K-2 A polar bear, who is surrounded by white ice and white snow, longs for one thing: color. White with gray backdrop scenes sprinkled lightly with color fill the first third of the story zeroing in on Bear's discontent. A brief moment of happiness comes when Bear receives a picture of a rainbow from a sweet little brown-faced girl (also donned in white). But recognizing that he needs help, the little girl rigs her skiff and sails across the ocean. Packed with art supplies, the two travel around the world, and Bear paints what he sees. When they return, Bear realizes that home had every color of the rainbow all along. Textured motifs and mixed-media in individual hues of the rainbow illustrate the duo's journey to popular landmarks, such as the London Bridge, Notre-Dame, and the Taj Mahal, and when they return, the full spectrum of colors appears in the aurora borealis. The combination of color, playful characters with rich facial expressions, and iconic world landmarks make this a charming tale perfect for storytime.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017
When a seagull passes along word that a polar bear "longed for color" in his white world, a girl takes him on a sailboat journey. Wherever they stop (Big Ben, the Parthenon, etc.), he paints what he sees. Mailing his work home ensures that, upon Bear's return, he'll have a colorful life. Kono's spry illustrations lighten the load of her somewhat heavy-handedly allegorical story.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)