Small Fry Saturday: The Color Kittens

Small Fry Saturday is a meme inspired by The Well-Read Redhead, showcasing books our children enjoy.

This week’s pick is:

Title: The Color Kittens
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Publisher: Golden Books
Released: 1959
Source: my personal library

Synopsis:

Once there were two color kittens with green eyes, Brush and Hush . . .So goes the rollicking tale of two pouncy kittens who make all the colors in the world. First published more than 50 years ago, The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown is now available as a Little Golden Book Classic, with its original cover!

I think The Color Kittens is probably my favorite out of all of Margaret Wise Brown’s books. Illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, the artwork is playful and imaginative, supporting the text and bringing it to life. This book has the sweet story and delicate, musical way of rhyming that is so typical with Brown’s books…but it doesn’t always rhyme. I don’t know about you, but when I’m reading aloud a children’s book that has the exact same rhyme–rhythm pattern over and over and over, I start to feel a little bit silly. But in The Color Kittens, there is a bit of narrative, then a bit of rhyme, back and forth throughout.

But they had no green. “No green paint!” said Brush and Hush. And they wanted green paint, of course, because nearly every place they liked to go was green.

Green as cats eyes / Green as grass
By streams of water / Green as glass.

So they tried to make some green paint.

I love this! It gives some space for the rhyming portions to have a slight change in rhythm each time they appear.

The Color Kittens is geared for ages 3 to 7. Children will be captivated by the story and illustrations, and learn how secondary colors are created. Parents will find the graceful, natural prose a pleasure to read aloud.