Blue

by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Overview

How many shades of blue are there?

There’s the soft blue of a baby’s cherished blanket, the ocean blue of a romp in the waves, the chilly blue of a cold winter’s walk in the snow, and the true blue of the bond that exists between children and animals.

In this simple, sumptuously illustrated companion to Caldecott Honor Book Green, award-winning artist Laura Vaccaro Seeger turns her attention to the ways in which color evokes emotion, and in doing so tells the story of one special and enduring friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250224842
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	09/25/2018
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Among Laura Vaccaro Seeger's many acclaimed books for young readers are the First the Egg, a Caldecott Honor Book and Geisel Honor Book; One Boy, a Geisel Honor Book; Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and Green, a Caldecott Honor Book. Laura lives on Long Island with her husband, Chris, their two sons, Drew and Dylan.

Editorial Reviews

If the state of the world or anything else is putting you in need of a good cry, I recommend Laura Vaccaro Seeger's Blue…It's [a] book that uses only two words on each page…the better to show off Seeger's thick, brushy art and die-cut holes, which are reminiscent of her Caldecott Honor-winning Green.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

06/18/2018
Seeger’s Green celebrated a single color, and so too does this companion, all the while telling a poignant story. Close-range, canvas-stroked spreads portray the start of a friendship as a golden retriever puppy and a toddler nap on the same blanket (“baby blue”). The young dog and boy romp on the beach (“ocean blue”) and sleep together (“midnight blue”) as they both grow older, until the boy, now much changed, is seen cuddling his aging dog (“true blue”). When it’s time for the two to say goodbye, Seeger shows the young man alone, his head bowed as he sits by the ocean where he and his dog once played (“so blue”). Though things begin to look up in the final spreads, the death is a difficult moment, and readers might find themselves a bit blue. Seeger balances many different picture book elements as she identifies evocative hues for the duo’s story, examines common objects such as blueberries and butterflies, and inserts unexpected die-cuts in each page to reveal fragments of the surrounding spreads. Ages 3–6. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Four starred reviews!

*"Though there is sorrow, it is followed by joy in this touching tribute to a heartwarming relationship that will engage readers of all ages."—School Library Journal, starred review

*"A story full of heart, this works on many levels, assuring satisfying discoveries with repeated viewings."—Booklist, starred review

*"Sumptuous, stunning, and heart-stirring."—Kirkus, starred review

*"As in Green, small die-cuts lead from each richly textured double-page spread to the next, always surprising, where the canopy of an umbrella becomes the top of a bird feeder, say, an encapsulation of the larger imaginative leaps being made from spread to spread. When was the last time a concept book made you cry?"—Horn Book, starred review

"Seeger’s Green celebrated a single color, and so too does this companion, all the while telling a poignant story."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2018
K-Gr 3—In her companion to Green, Seeger follows the lives of a boy and his dog, Blue. Beginning with the sleeping toddler and his puppy accompanied by the words "baby blue," the pair is shown growing up together and sharing experiences through all seasons and in all weather. Their various activities include blueberry picking, chasing butterflies, taking snowy walks, and frolicking in the ocean. An azure bandana appears on almost every page, sometimes worn by the boy and sometimes by his dog. The pictures and words will appeal to readers' emotions, including delight, contentment, exasperation, and profound sadness when the youth is pictured holding his elderly dog for the last time. Precisely placed die-cuts lead readers to the next page and the next illustration depicting the pair's devotion. Short, rhyming couplets consisting of two words each scan well and are skillfully conveyed by the acrylic paintings on canvas: "quiet blue/silly blue/stormy blue/chilly blue." VERDICT Though there is sorrow, it is followed by joy in this touching tribute to a heartwarming relationship that will engage readers of all ages.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

School Library Journal

★ 2018-06-25
This companion to Seeger's Caldecott Honor book Green (2012) explores a fresh color's visual and metaphorical permutations.Seeger unfolds the entwined lives of a white boy and a golden Lab, from baby- and puppy-hood through a series of poignant transitions. Cleverly placed die cuts and rhymed, two-word phrases (set in ever crisp Helvetica Neue bold) anchor each double-page spread. To her many-hued blues, some thick with impasto, Seeger adds yellow, sienna, crimson, and green in scenes that transit fluidly among interiors and natural tableaux exploring the sea, a stormy night, a sun-dappled park, and more. At "baby blue," puppy and toddler sleep among blue toys, sharing a small square of blue cloth—a future neckerchief they'll trade throughout. For "berry blue," boy pulls dog and a berry basket in a red wagon. The phrase "maybe blue" perches on a blob of yellow in the child's vivid self-portrait with pet. (The dog traverses the picture, tracking yellow paint across the deep-blue ground, its die-cut paw prints mixing to make green.) At "very blue" the pair cavorts among blue butterflies, which fill the foreground in huge, delightful proximity. Later scenes depict the Lab's inevitable aging, with the boy sitting ("so blue") on a dock at sunset, his body bent in grief. Last, another transition: meeting a brown-skinned girl and her young sheepdog, the blue scrap now tucked in the teen's back pocket.Sumptuous, stunning, and heart-stirring. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews