Jun25
Thursday Read-Alouds
Just two books to highlight from this week’s reading aloud. The first is The Black Book of Colors
How does a blind person understand color? By using other senses. Helen Keller once remarked that sighted people are really the blind ones, for they “have no idea how fair the flower is to the touch, nor do they appreciate its fragrance, which is the soul of the flower.” This book’s text — given in in both print and braille — tries to give us a sense of a blind child’s vision (his name is Thomas) through non-visual description of what each color might mean. Yellow, for instance, means yellow things — it tastes like mustard and feels soft, like a chick. Red? Strawberries, of course, described in all their multidimensional wonder as “sour like unripe strawberries and as sweet as watermelon.” It’s also blood: “It hurts when he finds it on his scraped knee.” The illustrations thrust us into the shoes of a blind person, because they’re all black-on-black; the pictures are simply done in a glossier black, slightly raised on the page:
Simply put, it’s ingenius. Yet in all honesty, I was more impressed by it than my children. Perhaps it was too “educational”? Not enough narrative for their tastes? I’m not sure, but it’s still an amazing attempt to give us a new way of “seeing,” and of appreciating those who can’t depend so heavily on physical eyes in the process.
(Correction: Since publishing this post, my daughters came into the living room and picked up the book enthusiastically. “So… You like that book?” I asked. “Yes,” they chorused. My youngest added, “I like it because of those funny letters.” Guess you never can tell the impact a book may or may not be having!)
The second book is my children’s favorite this week. I chose it for its author:
This time, it was my turn to feel underwhelmed — but my daughters loved this and have requested a re-reading several times. The House Gobbaleen
Head over to Amy’s place at Hope Is the Word to see what others have been reading this week.
The Black Book of Colors looks like a must-read for us! My girls would be fascinated by it, so I’ll definitely have to look it up.
I know what you mean about loving a book your children are less than thrilled by and vice-versa. It is hard to predict their reactions sometimes, isn’t it? At the same time, though, just because they don’t gush doesn’t mean they don’t love it, too, just as you mentioned.
Have a great Thursday!
Wow, I’ve never seen anything quite like THe Black Book of Colors. That looks awesome!
The Black Book of Colors looks really cool. I’ve never seen anything like that, trying to express one sense via another to give us an idea of how others perceive the world… wow.