Two rainbows

PreS-Gr 1-This Australian import is a quiet tale of making home in a new place. The nameless female protagonist is adjusting to living in the city. The girl seeks out the colors of the rainbow while still remembering the almost dreamlike colors on her expansive farm, and they feel worlds apart. The difference between the vibrant orange sunrise of the farm and the orange peel she spies in the gutter as her mother drags her through the city feel nothing alike. There is joy even in the city as she drops a letter in a red postbox all by herself. Still, it's not as vivid as the red tractor and the robin on the farm. By the time she gets to violet, she has connected these two rainbows and they feel more like one. McMahon creates the alternating views in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, which gives the humans a somewhat geometric feel, but a layer of texture softens some of their edges and the harsher realities of the city. The various shades of black, white, and gray accurately call to mind the concrete jungle. Thought was given to every detail, from the title font in each color of the rainbow to the hue of a dragonfly. A thick band of white space appears at the bottom of each page, making a consistent home for the text. The whole book feels well designed and purposeful. VERDICT Just right for teaching Roy G. Biv, or as bibliotherapy for a country mouse who has moved to the city. A smart choice for libraries looking to update their color storytime selections, perfect for one-on-one and small group sharing.-Kristy Kilfoyle, Canterbury School, Fort Myers, FL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Spare, poetic text depicts the contrasts and connections between a young protagonist's life in the country and in the city. The young narrator, with a blank face, a black pageboy, and skin color that changes hue from spread to spread, spies a rainbow from the window of a house in the city. Recently moved from the country, the child misses the pastoral expanse that's been left behind. Each color of the rainbow represents bright memories that contrast with the noisy, bustling, gray city: a red mailbox next to a laundromat vs. a shiny red tractor in a field; a tiny discarded orange peel vs. orange twine around fluffy hay bales at sunset; a torn green poster vs. vast green fields after a rain. But then the clouds at the beginning of the book return as violet storm cloudsthe same clouds that lowered over the farm. Two rainbows symbolize two liveseach with its own spectrum of colors. Digital illustrations contrast these two environments effectively, juxtaposing tall, monochrome buildings that crowd out the gray sky against small elements of farm life that sit at the bottom of the spreads with the rest of the pages devoted to the vibrant, colorful sky. Sharp-eyed readers will notice other tiny instances of color in the city spreads. A lovely city-country story that celebrates finding your place, and your color, in the world around you. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.