Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors (Sidman, Joyce)
*Starred Review* The changing seasons have been the subject of many a picture book, but this one has a particularly unique take on the topic. Each season is explored in terms of how it encompasses colors. In the spring, “Red sings / from treetops . . . / each note dropping / like a cherry / into my ear.” Green “peeks from buds,” and yellow “slips goldfinches their spring jackets.” Succeeding seasons offer other opportunities for the colors to spread their particular magic. In summer, “white clinks in drinks.” The blue in water takes on many names: “turquoise, azure, cerulean.” Sidman also brings other senses to the fore. Old leaves and crushed berries smell purple. And though one might not associate pink with winter, it “prickles: / warm fingers / against cold cheeks.” All of these evocative images are matched in the imaginative illustrations. Stylized figures, intricately costumed and crowned, walk, run, and sail through Zagarenski’s artwork. You’ll find one in a tree picking juicy red apples and another set against an expanse of white, building a snowman. Throughout, the mixed-media illustrations, including collage and paintings on wood, provide much to look at. And as the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page do sing. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper