How the Animals Got Their Colors: Animal Myths from Around the World

by Michael Rosen, John Clementson (Illustrator)

A collection of tales from around the world explaining how various animals got their colors.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of animal tales collected from around the world that explains how particular animals came to look the way they are. As such it is a mixture of cultures with no actual true focus.

Unfortunately there is no real organization to the stories nor is there at first glance any actual way to tell where the stories come from. Fortunately for readers who do want to know there is a small collection at the back that does provide more cultural information even if it just is a broad covering and some brief info on the main animal.

The book is full of cultural-type illustrations thus they are bright, busy and full of details for one who may be interested.

All in all it was a good collection but not one of the best out there.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice well rounded collection but I’m not crazy about the layout

[Kristin Crockett]

Title: How The Animals Got Their Colors
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: John Clementson
Genre: Myth, Folklore
Themes: Animals, Uniqueness
Opening line/sentence:
Coyote is a wild dog. He thinks he’s so cunning, so clever.
Brief Book Summary: Using old myths and folktale stories passed down from long ago, Rosen explains how eight different animals got their colors and explains why they are the way they are today. He talks about how has the leopard always had black spots, what turned the dancing brolga bird gray, where did the coyote get his yellow eyes, why peacock’s markings resemble teardrops, and so on.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Carolyn Phelan (Booklist)
Rosen retells nine animal tales from around the world, including an African story explaining how the leopard got its spots, a native American pourquoi tale of how the coyote got its yellow eyes, and a Greek myth explaining why frogs are green on their backs and white on their bellies. Vibrant paper-cut collages fill the pages with diverse patterns and contrasting colors. Despite their cluttered appearance, many of the illustrations have a vitality of line and a rhythmic repetition of form that make them effective. Appended notes on the tales include information about the people who told them and the animals themselves. In a pleasing decorative touch, each description in the notes is accompanied by a striking depiction of the animal, drawn from the illustrations but isolated on the blue-bordered, white pages. First published in England, this is a possible source for storytelling or reading aloud.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Kirkus
Nine pourquoi stories drawn from named sources such as Bulfinch, The Journal of American Folklore, and the work of various anthropologists. Rosen’s retellings are spare but fairly lively; Clementson’s illustrations, vibrant with sharp- edged areas of joyful intense color that appear to have been cut with scissors, dramatically frame the stark white areas of the text. Concluding notes about cultural sources and the animals themselves are addressed to young readers; it’s too bad that the credited sources are not also mentioned. An outstandingly handsome, eye- catching book- one that’s likely to be especially useful to storytellers and teachers.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviewers mainly talk about how well done and bright the illustrations are. However, I do agree with the first review that the pictures are a bit clustered and overwhelming for the eyes of a young child. By making the pictures less overwhelming, they would be more effective for young learners.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book is extremely colorful with lots of bright colors and animals but has a lot going on. This could distract the readers attention and draw their eye away from the story. The style of the book is in rhythmic repetitions, which makes catchy and more fun for readers. The language is written in a simple, accessible way. However, they book has a lot of words per page so it might be tricky for some readers to follow along. The main conflict in each story is explaining to the reader how an animal got a specific characteristic.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book can be used to talk to first through fourth graders about myths and folklore. After reading the story, students will create their own animal folklore. Students could pick any animal of their choice (one not from the book) and use construction paper to create their animal. Next, students will pick a trait (color, tail, etc) from their animal depending on their grade level, they will write anywhere from a short paragraph to an essay explaining how their animal that trait.

[Denim Eakin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Traditional Literature- Myth/Folktale
Awards: None
Audience: Grades 3-5
- The story is a collection of different animals and the different ways that they got their colors, the main characters are the Coyote, flying fish, frog, tiger, brolga, leopard, peacock, crane and they are all described in a creative way that sets the scene of how they are going to get their colors/markings.
- I couldn't exactly compare them to any other versions, I had never heard of this book before, the Tiger story was the only one that really translated well to me, they could represent another story im just not sure what it could be. That might be too that each story represent another culture, so the versions it represent are not recognizable to me.
- This would be a good read to have in the library or to read In whole group if you read one story a day, it is quite lengthly so either one would be good. It expands the childs mind and allows them to think outside of the box and it is fun to see the creativity of the author.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How the Animals Got Their Colors" is a group of different folk tales from different cultures that explain why certain animals look the way they do. The stories come from cultures all over the world; Central American, African, Indian, Asian, etc. This is an interesting book because it talks about how different cultures view things, and how that blends in with their story telling. The illustrations are also interesting. They are done in a very collage, cut and paste style. I feel like this book would be good to use for various types of lessons. It could be used when talking about other culture, or when a teacher cover folk lore, or even when just talking about animals. This would be a fun story to use when describing what they look like to smaller children.

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading myths of this sort when I was a child and I'll have to say that in comparison I found these only average. I did like the tale about the Peacock and the one about the Tiger, but I couldn't find any rhyme or reason to some of the other ones. I wonder if some of them just don't translate well. See for instance the one about the Crane: I read it three times and I still didn't understand it.

This said, the stories held high interest for my six year old, and I made sure not to share my disappointment with him. The pictures are kind of fun, very geometrical and ethnic looking.