Babies Love Colors by Michelle Rhodes Conway

Babies Love Colors (2018) Written by Michelle Rhodes Conway and illustrated by Fhiona Galloway.

Part of a series, this interactive board book uses flaps to provide multiple examples of the six colors focused on. Each page provides a list of items in that color put to rhyme after an opening statement of "I like [color]." While the formula of the structure stays the same throughout the book, the writing provides some variation by alternating the end of each section, either providing two more items (“Orange fruit and orange hat.”) or a more involved sentence regarding one item doing some kind of action (“Green kites catch the breeze”). This variation especially stands out because it is supported by the flaps in the book that encourage the child to be engaged with the book. Each time the flap is lifted, the reader is unsure of the contents beneath; will it be a colorful item taking action or two related examples. For some children, however, the variation and suspense it provides with the flaps may be a bit advanced to have any effect.

This is where the pictures can come in. Each section has a full spread of a monochromatic illustration involving all the items being listed in the rhyme rarely using any color other than the one being focused on. For example, the section on the color blue uses different shades of blue to illustrate a boat and whale in the sea under a clear sky, each item including small details, like scales on the fish or a design on the sails, without veering from the focused color. Each illustration also includes items that aren’t part of the rhyme giving a child a chance to explore further. This can be used as a jumping off point for the child to find other things around them that match the color or even other things they know of in the world.

Overall, the jolly rhyme paired with the cartoonish images that include many smiles makes this a welcoming educational book for young children. They will enjoy lifting the flap to find more items and learning of all the different shades a color can appear in. It also encourages them to take what they are learning into the world around them, helping them to identify the colors of items around them based on how the shades relate to the variety provided in each illustration. The short sentences make it easy to stop and discuss at each color and fun to read aloud. Both parents and children will find joy in this rainbow array.