Colors have a real appeal — for kids and adults alike. For kids, though, colors can be a uniquely visual experience and a learning opportunity. If your kids love colors or you’re looking for a fun way to teach them colors, these picture books about colors are the way to go.
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27 Fun Picture Books About Colors
Here are 27 great picture books about colors:
Festival of Colors
Published: January 30, 2018
Spring is here, and it’s almost time for Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors. Siblings Mintoo and Chintoo are busy gathering flowers to make into colorful powders to toss during the festival. And when at last the big day comes, they gather with their friends, family, and neighbors for a vibrant celebration of fresh starts, friendship, forgiveness, and, of course, fun!
Bear Sees Colors
Published: September 23, 2014
Colors, colors everywhere!
Can you find colors just like Bear?
Karma Wilson’s playful text and Jane Chapman’s adorable illustrations creatively introduce colors to the youngest Bear fans, who will delight in discovering a rainbow of fun.
Mixed: A Colourful Story
Published: July 3, 2018
In the beginning, there were three colors . . .
Reds,
Yellows,
and Blues.
All special in their own ways, all living in harmony―until one day, a Red says “Reds are the best!” and starts a color kerfuffle. When the colors decide to separate, is there anything that can change their minds?
Dr. Suess’s Book of Colors by Dr. Suess
Published: January 2, 2018
This simple rhymed riff about color is illustrated with art from some of the most beloved—and colorful—works by Dr. Seuss, including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Great for the earliest reader, it is a perfect companion to Dr. Seuss concept books like Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?, The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, and Dr. Seuss’s ABC. Nurture a love of reading—and of the many colorful characters created by Dr. Seuss—with this great new concept book for beginning readers!
Monsters Love Colors
Published: February 5, 2013
Did you know that monsters love to scribble, scribble, mix, dance, and wiggle?!
Why? Because monsters love to make new colors!
Celebrate along with the hilarious monsters in this wild and energetic picture book. Mixing and discovering color has never been so much fun! Sure to spark the imaginative artist in everyone.
Ellie in Color
Published: October 2, 2018
Ellie and her signature paintbrush guide the littlest readers through vibrant colors in this adorable board book by author-illustrator Mike Wu, illustrating how colors come together to create a beautiful picture.
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh
Published: September 3, 2019
Harpreet Singh has a different color for every mood and occasion, from happy sunny yellow to courageous red. He especially takes care with his patka—his turban—making sure it always matches his outfit. But when Harpreet’s mom finds a new job in a snowy city and they have to move, everything just feels gray. Can he find a way to make life bright again?
They Say Blue
Published: March 1, 2018
Caldecott and Printz Honor-winning illustrator Jillian Tamaki brings us a poetic exploration of colour and nature from a young child’s point of view. They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know — she hasn’t seen one.
The Day the Crayons Quit
Published: June 27, 2013
Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Blue crayon needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. Black crayon wants to be used for more than just outlining. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun. What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?
Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color
Published: March 15, 2016
In a place where color ran wild, there lived a girl who was wilder still. Her name was Swatch, and color was her passion. From brave green to in-between gray to rumble-tumble pink . . . Swatch wanted to collect them all. But colors don’t always like to be tamed. . . .
Splatter
Published: September 5, 2018
This story begins when Red, Yellow and Blue encounter a persistent problem and are unsure of how to solve it. They each try to solve it in their own way and it seems to make the problem worse. Instead of giving up, they embrace each other’s differences and learn how to work together and in process learn about about some NEW colors too!
If you loved I’m NOT just a scribble you will love Splatter too!
Pantone Colors
Published: March 1, 2012
This artful first colors book introduces children to 9 basic colors and 20 shades of each. Readers will immerse themselves in the concept that one color name actually refers to a variety of dark, light, and in-between tones. Young children will begin by simply naming the colors of the monochromatic images and will soon grow to select their favorite and least-favorite shades. Pantone: Colors is a visually pleasing way to expand the colors conversation and develop a child’s sense of visual discrimination.
Little Blue and Little Yellow
Published: January 17, 2017
Little Blue and Little Yellow are best friends, but one day they can’t find each other. When they finally do, they give each other such a big hug that they turn green! How they find their true colors again concludes a wonderfully satisfying story told with colorful pieces of torn paper and very few words. Leo Lionni launched his children’s book career in 1959 with Little Blue and Little Yellow, and this 50th-anniversary edition, complete with Lionni’s own explanation of how the book came to be, is sure to resonate with children today.
Sky Color
Published: August 28, 2012
Marisol loves to paint. So when her teacher asks her to help make a mural for the school library, she can’t wait to begin! But how can Marisol make a sky without blue paint? After gazing out the bus window and watching from her porch as day turns into night, she closes her eyes and starts to dream. . . . From the award-winning Peter H. Reynolds comes a gentle, playful reminder that if we keep our hearts open and look beyond the expected, creative inspiration will come.
Red: A Crayon’s Story
Published: February 3, 2015
Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let’s draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can’t be red, no matter how hard he tries!
Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He’s blue!
How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow
Published: May 3, 2016
The Sun and the Clouds are best friends. Together they keep the world warm, the gardens growing, and the sky full of beautiful rainbows. But one day they get into a fight and refuse to be in the sky together. And that means there are no longer any rainbows. Without rainbows, the colors start disappearing until Earth was left with no color … except for one little forgotten box of crayons in one little school desk.
Determined to save the rainbows and fix the Sun and Clouds’ friendship, the crayons draw rainbows all over town. Their attempts go unnoticed. Soon they realize that they’re going to have to do something big to get the attention of the former friends. So, the crayons create the biggest rainbow they can and hope it’s enough to bring color back to the world.
Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors
Published: July 22, 2014
A passel of playful peas keeps it green as they experience the colorful world around them, from red kites to yellow buses to purple mountains and more! Bright and bold illustrations fill the pages of this delightful exploration of color.
Alphaprints: Colors by Roger Priddy
Published: March 3, 2015
A blue whale swimming through a blue ocean and a yellow snake slithering in a yellow desert are just two of the rainbow array of colorful creatures to discover in this innovative and engaging first colors book. Each animal is created by adding fun photographs of everyday things for children to spot to big, bold fingerprints, which have raised embossing for little hands to touch, feel, and explore. With easy-to-turn, graduated pages that feature eye-catching, multi-colored foil edges.
Green Is a Chile Pepper
Published: February 18, 2014
Green is a chile pepper, spicy and hot.
Green is cilantro inside our pot.
In this lively picture book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child’s day!
Green
Published: March 27, 2012
How many kinds of green are there? There’s the lush green of a forest on a late spring day, the fresh, juicy green of a just-cut lime, the incandescent green of a firefly, and the vivid aquamarine of a tropical sea. In her newest book, Caldecott and Geisel Honor Book author Laura Vaccaro Seeger fashions an homage to a single color and, in doing so, creates a book that will delight and, quite possibly astonish you. This title has Common Core connections.
Duck & Goose Colors
Published: January 6, 2015
These humorous and expressive characters make learning the colors easy and fun. From New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Tad Hills comes another concept book starring our favorite feathered friends. Duck and Goose introduce basic colors in this sturdy board book, perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
Dog’s Colorful Day
Published: March 1, 2001
Dog always seems to be underfoot when something messy (and colorful) is spilt, giving readers ten different spots on his white coat to count before book’s end and Dog’s bath.
One
Published: October 1, 2008
Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but what can they do? When no one speaks up, things get out of hand — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count. As budding young readers learn about numbers, counting, and primary and secondary colors, they also learn about accepting each other’s differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count.
My Colors, My World
Published: July 16, 2007
Little Maya longs to find brilliant, beautiful, inspiring color in her world.…but Maya’s world, the Mojave Desert, seems to be filled with nothing but sand. With the help of a feathered friend, she searches everywhere to discover color in her world. In the brilliant purple of her mother’s flowers, the cool green of a cactus, the hot pink sunset, and the shiny black of Papi’s hair, Maya finally finds what she was looking for. The book’s appealing narrative and bold illustrations encourage early readers to observe and explore, and to discover the colors in their own
A Day with No Crayons
Published: September 1, 2007
When Liza’s mother takes away her beloved crayons, her world suddenly goes gray. How does the budding artist repond? She squirts her toothpaste angrily and stomps through mud puddles. Through these acts, Liza inadvertently creates art-and eventually discovers color in the world around her.Liza loved her crayons. She treasured turquoise, adored apricot, and flipped over fuchsia.
Baby Bear Sees Blue
Published: February 7, 2012
Baby Bear has so much to learn about the world! From the moment he wakes until it’s time to curl up and go to sleep, he explores outside with his mama. They see green leaves, blue jays, brown trout, and—best of all—a patch of yummy red strawberries.
Hello, Red Fox
Published: April 1, 1998
It’s Little Frog’s birthday, and Mama Frog gets a big surprise when the guests show up for his party—all the animals are the wrong color! Little Frog tells her she’s not looking long enough, and he’s right.
There they are: 27 of the best picture books about colors. Which of these have you read and loved? What did I miss?
More Picture Book Lists
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