ROY G. BIV An exceedingly surprising book about color

Though they are clearly demarcated by Crayola, colors can be surprisingly complicated. In design expert Stewart's first book, she explores a bevy of attributes-contemporary and historical, cultural and scientific-of various colors. After a brief history of color theory, Stewart discusses the pigments one by one, sharing the origin of the red paint used in American barns and explaining why men in China avoid green hats. The facts are conversationally presented, often as humorous anecdotes that match the vibrant design of the pages, which include color-coordinated illustrations, diagrams, and peculiarly presented quotations on color, with marginalia framing the pages that directs the reader to jump ahead to other information. Some of the connections are elaborate, as in the discussion of how white became associated with weddings and the extended examination of whether blue actually exists. An ending section moves outside the traditional spectrum to synesthesia and studies of the color of dinosaurs. Stewart's well-designed book is visually stimulating and surprising, reminding readers that colors are still as fascinating and fun as they were in grade school. Four-color illus. throughout. Agent: Jen Carlson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In an artfully designed work, factoids and myths about color are brightly packaged in a format with eye-catching typographics. Stewart, a freelance journalist (Slate, The Believer, etc.), adapts the hyperlink of electronic media to print, enabling readers to hop from topic to topic and page to page. She does this by underlining certain words and phrases, adding the highlighted terms to a sidebar that includes directions to another page, where there is a further discussion; at that site, another word or phrase may be highlighted, taking readers off in yet another direction. For example, the word "bloody," highlighted on page 7, directs readers to "horseshoe crab's miraculous blood" on page 27, and from there to "horny dinosaur-like bodies" on page 88, and then to "feathers" on page 36, and so on. Headings are bold and paragraphs are short, breaking the text into bite-sized segments. Large-type, single-page quotes about color and even larger-type, double-page graphics linking a color to concepts, emotions and phenomena open most chapters, indicating that the book's designer played a major role in developing the product. The author, whose research into the associations and meanings of color is extensive, has used some of her material before. The intriguing tidbits about color may induce readers to explore further, and to that end, the selected bibliography has books on pigments and dyes, color theory, the science of color, the meanings of color and art history. The book is light on science but full of mostly interesting trivia and answers to such questions as why pencils are yellow, why stoplights are red and why there is no brown in the rainbow. Occasionally entertaining yet gimmicky book aimed at those with short attention spans.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.