Esther's Rainbow by Kim Kane and Sara Acton
| Esther's Rainbow by Kim Kane and Sara Acton | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Darling illustrations, but it's the story I like best in this book. A different, poetic way of looking at colours with young children. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: October 2014 |
| Publisher: Allen & Unwin Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 9781743313701 | |
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There's something rather magical about rainbows. Even now I find I get a little bit excited when I see one and will rush over to the window to see how big it is, and where the pot of gold might be! In this rainbow story, Esther spies a rainbow on the floor. When she touches it, it's soft and warm and smells slightly like honey. After the rainbow goes away she finds herself noticing, throughout the week, the different rainbow colours in her every day life.
The pictures in this book remind me of a tidier Quentin Blake. They're soft, with lovely characters who are full of expression. The colours are, as you'd imagine, important, but I didn't feel they were over the top so that although each day is themed to a different colour you're not overpowered by that on the page, and the effect is much more subtle. There are lots of lovely little touches in the artwork. I love the baby in the sling on his mum's back, giving us a cheeky little grin. I love the picture of Esther swimming underwater at her swimming lesson, her cheeks puffed out with air! The swinging picture is sweet, and captures that joy of swinging high without a care in the world.
In some books it's the artwork that takes precedence, but actually in this story I really love the words too. Esther's rainbow hunt is rather poetic. I like that the places she sees her colours are different, so violet is in the bruise on her shin (and how lovely it's on her shin, and not just her leg!) I like that she tasted violet in Granny's chocolate creams or that she smelt indigo in the cool of the midnight sky. Her colours continue to be everywhere - her brother's blue lips when he's cold by the swimming pool, or the green bottles that are glinting in the bin. Her rainbow does return eventually, and she finds a stack of honey pancakes waiting for her at the end of it (now that's my kind of rainbow gold!)
This is a gentle story, and a lovely way to talk about colours. It's for older toddlers I feel - younger ones would prefer your typical 'red car, yellow duck' board books. But this is for when they become a little bit more appreciative of a story. I think it holds its value too as I've found my eight year old looking through it several times since, and it is a rather nice idea to have a story of a little girl looking for her rainbow every day. Gentle and beautiful and wonderful to read aloud, this is a lovely, colourful book.
Another colourful rainbow story that we enjoyed is Mrs Rainbow by Neil Griffiths
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You can read more book reviews or buy Esther's Rainbow by Kim Kane and Sara Acton at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Esther's Rainbow by Kim Kane and Sara Acton at Amazon.com.
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