My Blue Is Happy
by Jessica Young
ill by Catia Chien
Candlewick Press, 2013
I’m drawn to this book because my blue is happy, too! I always think of blue as a happy, calm, beautiful color. It starts out with, ?My sister says that blue is sad / Like a lonely song.?
No way! And the narrator quickly disagrees with that. ?But my blue is happy / Like my favorite jeans / And a splash in the pool on a hot day.?
Then it goes through all the different colors. [CCRA.R.3] The narrator tells how someone else sees that color, and it’s a simile (’red is angry / Like a dragon’s burning breath.?). [CCRA.R.4] And then the narrator tells how she sees the color. I like all the concrete examples. For each color, I get to see two or more different things that color can be. [CCRA.R.5]
Sometimes I agree with the narrator, and sometimes I don’t. This is such a good reminder that everybody sees the world differently. [CCRA.R.2] I really like that. It makes me think of Joyce Sidman’s RED SINGS FROM ROOFTOPS. It would be great to read that picture book with this one. And my own poetry book, FLASHY, CLASHY, AND OH-SO SPLASHY: POEMS ABOUT COLOR shows colors in lots of concrete ways, too. [CCRA.R.9]
To be continued with a writing activity next week…
In this blog feature, I share a picture book I really enjoy and externalize my process of reading it–and then I go back and add in the CCSS Anchor Standards that my reading thoughts relate to. I’m hoping this will be useful for those of you who are?educators sharing books with kids and perhaps give you ideas of some?elements you could include?in your book discussions.
Laura, blue is my absolutely favorite color and this book is a must for my little great-granddaughter. She is blessed with gorgeous blue eyes and that’s the first comment out of a person’s mouth when they see her for the first time. She’s two and a half and her parents insist that she says “thank-you” to anyone who says something nice to her. She quickly tired of that and about a month ago began to cut to the chase – now when she sees a stranger she quickly says, “Hi, I have blue eyes.” That’s it, she’s done and in her little mind, saved a person from having to say anything and at the same time cut down on her thank-yous; and, thank you for indulging a GG.
That is so funny , Martha! She’s a little efficiency expert!
Laura, blue is my absolutely favorite color and this book is a must for my little great-granddaughter. She is blessed with gorgeous blue eyes and that’s the first comment out of a person’s mouth when they see her for the first time. She’s two and a half and her parents insist that she says “thank-you” to anyone who says something nice to her. She quickly tired of that and about a month ago began to cut to the chase – now when she sees a stranger she quickly says, “Hi, I have blue eyes.” That’s it, she’s done and in her little mind, saved a person from having to say anything and at the same time cut down on her thank-yous; and, thank you for indulging a GG.
That is so funny , Martha! She’s a little efficiency expert!
It’s lots of fun to use colors in poems with students. Often they create things I never thought of. Thanks for sharing this book, Laura, and yours too (which I don’t know)!
Yes! Color is such an accessible topic for kids…
It’s lots of fun to use colors in poems with students. Often they create things I never thought of. Thanks for sharing this book, Laura, and yours too (which I don’t know)!
Yes! Color is such an accessible topic for kids…
This book and your your book sound wonderful is the one of yours still in print?
As far as I know, it is:) they don’t necessarily tell me when one goes out of print, though.
This book and your your book sound wonderful is the one of yours still in print?
As far as I know, it is:) they don’t necessarily tell me when one goes out of print, though.
This sounds like a really cute book. Thanks for telling me about it.
Sure thing!
This sounds like a really cute book. Thanks for telling me about it.
Sure thing!