THE BLACK BOOK OF COLORS

THE BLACK BOOK OF COLOURS by Menena Cottin. Illustrated by Rosana Faria

I wanted to give my kids a glimpse of what it means to be blind. We take for granted the ability to see and the colors of a beautiful world so easily. Author Menena Cottin and illustrator Rosana Faria give us as close to a glimpse as possible in their amazing "picture" book, The Black Book of Colors. Prepare to let your fingers do the majority of the work. Yes, there is text for you to read, but the words describe what a color sounds like. For example, yellow "tastes like mustard, but is as soft as a baby chick's feathers." The words are embossed on the page in braille so you can run your fingers over them and feel them. The accompanying picture is also embossed for finger feel. If you hold it in the light the images are shiny, but if turned away from the light the images fade into inky blackness. This can be a very moving experience with your child when you realize what it means to be blind.

ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- This would be a wonderful opportunity to pair a biography about Louis Braille or Helen Keller with this book. Margaret Davidson wrote a wonderful one about each- Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind and a book simply titled Helen Keller. With a "fat" needle or pin and a piece of cardstock have your children practice writing their names, a sentence, Bible verse, etc in braille.