Pantone: Colors

by Pantone, Helen Dardik

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613123102
Publisher:	Abrams, Harry N., Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2012
Series:	Pantone Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	1 - 5 Years

About the Author

Pantone revolutionized the graphic arts industry with the launch, in 1963, of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM(r), which enabled designers and printers to articulate and reproduce accurate color anywhere in the world. This system achieved global acceptance and quickly became the standard in color naming and matching. Today, Pantone serves not only as the premier color consultant and authority on trends but also as a consumer brand in apparel, housewares, accessories, arts and crafts, stationery and office supplies, home furnishings, electronics, and apps.

Editorial Reviews

This smart and playful board book uses the Pantone Matching System to explore variations in familiar colors. On the right, a familiar object (a yellow lion, a pink piggy bank) rendered in Dardik’s friendly, chunky style represents each color, while a chart on the left displays 20 different shades of said color in square panels that correspond to official Pantone colors. Shades of red (embodied by a red wagon) include Ladybug Red (Pantone 200) and Chili Pepper Red (Pantone 7427), while blues range from Teapot Blue (Pantone 284) to Police Officer Blue (Pantone 2727). It’s an evocative exploration of the nuances of color, in a polished, eye-catching package. Up to age 5. Illustrator’s agent: Lilla Rogers Studio. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Beautifully designed from cover to cover."

Booklist

"Your kiddos will be tickled pink by Pantone’s extraordinary primer with nine basic colors in twenty glorious shades each. It’s almost too hard to choose one favorite from the rainbow."

Daily Candy

PreS-K—The purpose of this board book is rather obscure. Its construction would seem to indicate a preschool audience. On the recto of each section, an animal or object representing a particular color is presented, while on the verso, a grid with 20 boxes labeled with a Pantone color name and number appears. There is no way to determine which of the specific Pantone colors were used to construct a particular animal or object as many are markedly similar, and the animal or object can't be held against the grid to determine a distinct match. The illustrations of the nine animals and objects, which appear to be digitally rendered, are bright, cheerful, and child-friendly, which might make the book suitable for one-on-one sharing. An adult could discuss the many color variations. However, while many of the names are interesting, some are confusing. "Lemon yellow," "daffodil yellow," etc., are fine, but "soap orange," "pillow purple," "apron blue," "Grandma gray," etc., seem just random. Attractive, but not essential.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal

A bright, cheerful illustration of the reason why picture books shouldn't be product-placement vehicles. Although the back lists the illustrator credit in miniscule font, the front cover and spine credit only "PANTONE®" as creator of this concept piece. PANTONE® is a company that offers a trademarked system of standardized colors--a method of specifying and matching colors from afar. Here, each right-hand page features a cartoony object in a single hue, while the facing left-hand page has a 20-square grid of variations on that hue. Assets are the vibrant visual energy throughout and an emphasis on hue variations that can be detected in the facing illustration. But every variation broadcasts a name and identity number--and the brand, lest readers forget. Some names are cutesy ("Pink Lemonade Pink: PANTONE 210"), others meaningless as color identifiers ("Apron Blue: PANTONE 314"; "Mitten Purple: PANTONE 259"). Readers old enough to comprehend the PANTONE concept will have long outgrown this toddler-friendly art; worse, when they read the disclaimer that "PANTONE Colors may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color," they'll be disgusted that a color standardization company is betraying its own raison d'être. Twenty times per spread is too much brand trumpeting for, well, anyone; still, this will sell as a baby-shower gift for expectant graphic designers. (Board book. 1-3)

Kirkus Reviews