Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Review: Summertime Rainbow


Summertime Rainbow: A Bilingual Book of Colors by Belle Yang. 2012. 22 pgs. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. 9780763652807. Format reviewed: Board Book.

Annotation: Rabbits describe the world around them in both English and Mandarin Chinese.  
Reaction: What could be a dry bilingual book works thanks to the poetry of the narrative, weaving colors into the descriptions, “Ah! A spray of blossoms in the sky… That’s a rainbow.” The muted colors, combined with heavy, black brush strokes gives the illustration a Chinese feeling as well.   
Primary early literacy skills: Vocabulary. In addition to describing colors and things in nature, the text contains the Mandarin Chinese text and phonetic pronunciations.  
Recommended ages: 1 and up.
Tags/themes: Rabbits, nature, bi-lingual, concept – colors.
Author site/additional titles: www.belleyang.com

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