When I Colored in the World

by Ahmadreza Ahmadi

This is a story that is told with poetic simplicity, offering beautiful images but also raising questions to set thoughts going in readers' imaginations as a child uses an eraser and crayons to bring happier colours to the world, replacing bad with good

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2015

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! I just read A Bottle of Happiness , which is also illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi. The pictures in When I Colored in the World aren't quite so frenetic and detailed, but they're still really interesting to look at. They work well here, too, given that they almost look like children's drawings, and the story is told by a child.

In some ways, this can almost be viewed as a meditation or a set of affirmations. While the child can't physically change anything by erasing words with negative connotations and replacing them with more positive ones, it's kind of a nice way to think; perhaps, after an afternoon of musing about all the issues that need working on, the child will be inspired to take more concrete steps.

I can definitely see opportunities for using this book in a classroom setting. It almost seems tailor made for lessons and projects about making the world a better place.

This book is kind of difficult to describe. I'd recommend picking up a copy and having a look. The illustrations might not be to everyone's taste, but the message is worth checking out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Owl Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I Colored in the World by Ahmadreza Ahmadi, illustrated by Ensan Abdollahi. PICTURE BOOK. Tiny Owl, 2015. $17. 9781910328491

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Written in poetry form, this is the story of girl who is given crayons and an eraser. She erases sad and heavy words and replaces them with hopeful words. For example, she rubs out “noise” and replaces it with “song”.

The repetitive poetic nature of this book will be a draw for some and a deterrent for many. The author, an Iranian poet, suggests using this book as a form for writing your own poetry. That would be a great way to use this book in a school. It could also be used to talk about Iran and why a book like this could come out of that country at this time.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This simple story has a very powerful message. A child is given a box of crayons by his mom and an eraser to rub things out with. He takes his rainbow of colours and rewrites words that are dark and foreboding and changes them into bright colourful words of optimism and happiness.

The child chooses colours that mend, heal, and bring hope... totally transforming the world. He spreads bright colour everywhere.

" war
I rubbed out the word war.
I got my light blue crayon and I wrote peace with it.

Light blue
Peace

All over the world news came from
radios saying that all the wars had stopped.
After that news, the radios played such lovely
music that flowers bloomed in empty vases.

I gave the world light blue."


The new fresh colours inspire people to laugh, dance, accept each other just as they are, and the world to blossom and the hungry to be fed, just to name a few.

" illness
I rubbed out the world illness.
I got my pink crayon, and I wrote health instead.

Pink
Health

All over the world people who had been ill were
suddenly well! They ran with their friends and
were happy.

I gave the world pink. "

I love this poetic book. It is thoughtful and inspiring. The illustrations are vibrant and colourful. They draw the reader into the story. "When I Colored in the World" provokes conversations about how we can change and make the world a better place. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.

[I _teach_muggles · Rating 5 out of 5]

How would you colour in the world? When a young girl is given a box of colouring crayons she sets about creating her perfect vision of the world by erasing all the badness and replacing it with with good. No longer will people suffer, go hungry, be victims of war or feel sad. Through colour, hope and happiness will be spread across the world…

A simple and unique picture book that portrays the innocence of childhood dreams. It is filled with kindness and positivity and visions of a better future for the world. The text is set out as short individual poems making it a book that could be dipped in and out of or a specific poem and colour could be chosen to be explored in detail. The repetition of the opening and closing lines of each poem make it an ideal book for young readers to read independently.

Full page illustrations on the left pages have a background colour in the child’s choice of crayon and are completed with vibrant and brightly coloured artwork. The artwork is beautiful and what I really like is that the drawings have a childlike quality to them making it believable that the child in the book has created each piece. On the right page are the poetic words of the text that identify what would be changed and in what colour.

A thoughtful, positive and inspiring read that is sure to spark conversations about what we can all do to make the world a better and kinder place.

Recommended for 5+

[Patricia Nozell · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I Coloured in the World is one of my favorite books! It's a deceptively simple book in which an unnamed child changes the world one word at a time through art. I think the simplicity and repetition will appeal to young children and empower them to believe that they can change things for the better, too. I also like that Ahmadi starts the book with a gift from mother to child, the gift of imagination and power to better the world.
Full-page illustrations with backgrounds the color of the child’s crayon choice and vibrant images appear on the left side of each spread with the accompanying words set poem-like on the right. This makes When I Coloured in the World appear to be a book of poetry, and, indeed, each spread can be read, and discussed, separately. I think this adds to the enjoyment and utility of this book. I can envision parents or teachers picking one of the negative terms and brainstorming with their children words that are the opposite, and then discussing how that word can be illustrated and how change can occur.

[Elissa Ottenschnieder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breathtaking poetry collection, changing negative words to a different color and to a different, more positive word. “Darkness, I rubbed out the word darkness. I wrote the word light with my yellow crayon. Light. Yellow.” This poetry book is filled with lovely illustrations by illustrator Ehsan Abdollahi, that help portray the poetry that is on its page. This book is written in verse, making it a little simpler for students to read. The author of this book is Ahmadi, Ahmadreza, who is a known poet and has many other literary works. I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for a poetry book for children!

[Austria Kovalenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is, in my opinion, great for artists! I thought the story is simple and sort of flat. But the way the illustrator uses colours is really powerful!!

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique book about a child who erases words and replaces them with different ones to benefit the world. I think kids will respond well to the quiet power of this story.

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://video.link/w/Rxi6

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

An elementary and up book about a child changing the world color by color and word by word. each crayon in the box replaces a negative word with positive ones

[Geri chesner · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in Persian, in Tehran, Iran.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated, deceptively simple, poetic story about breaking down boundaries and negativity through imagination. Translated from Persian, orginally published in Iran.

[Maleeha Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I Coloured in the World is a brilliant and thoughtful book! I loved the simplicity and repetition of that story and the powerful message of this book is clear and brings a whole new perspective to a child - we can change the world one word at a time using colour and imagination. The illustrations are beautiful and the vibrant colours of each page with a crayon style will appeal to any young reader. The poetic aspect of this wonderful book goes well with the illustrations of this story - its a wonderful concept and children will enjoy every page.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I understand what they were trying to do with this book, but I didn't think it was executed well. I also wasn't a fan of the illustrations.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifully encouraging picture book that might offer hope and encouragement to those who are struggling. After receiving crayons and an eraser from her mother, a young girl uses them to make a better world. For every negative thing she sees such as darkness, boredom, war, and noise, she erases the word and replaces it with a more hopeful one, and then colors in all sorts of positive images. For instance, in place of the word "flood," she turns the flood into a drizzle, a word written in silver, and imagines saving the world's harvests from those floods. There's even a brief meditation on old age and intergenerational connections. It would be hard to read this book and not feel hopeful that things will improve if only we can take action to make that happen. The sumptuous illustrations, set against abundant white space, are worth a second or a third book. I was quite delighted to have this picture book, written by an Iranian poet, for my collection.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

With an eraser and box of crayons, the child rubs out ills found in the world -- darkness, war, drought, hunger, noise, crying -- and replaces it with color. Translated from Persian.

Not really an introduction to color, rather a treatise on peace, empowerment, and being in the instrument of change. Ahmado's text is powerful throughout and includes some questions in the back, asking "How can you change the world?" Children will relate to Ehsan Abdollahi's primitive line artwork.

Powerful stuff here.

Recommended for K-grade 5.

[Elizabeth Seibel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank #netgalley for giving me a copy of #WhenIColoredInTheWorld to review. This is a story about taking away words and replacing them with better things and three colors that represent them. This is a good book to teach symbolism and connotation. It's a good book to start thinking about the problems in the world and how to fix them. It's not a book that I would read repeatedly, but a good one for a discussion in a classroom.

[clivey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the idea of this book, but the structure of erasing a "bad" word with a "good" word made me wary when words like "winter" are used in the "bad" category. The over-simplicity of such a black-and-white statement doesn't fit the theme of coloring the world. I wish there was more nuance to the story. Again, the idea is cool and can create a rich a conversation with kids, but it fell short for me overall.

[Sorca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This translated Persian poem is a fantastic picture book exploring colour. A child is given a box of crayons and a rubber, and decides to use them to make some changes to the world. Instead of 'hunger' the colour green is used to draws sheafs of wheat so that people all over the world can have something to eat. The use of colour in this story is simple but powerful. The beautiful illustrations enhance the positive and thoughtful message. Art and creativity can make the world a brighter place!

[Tina Izguerra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book, When I Colored in the World, has a extremely confusing plot. It took my daughter and myself a few moments to realize that the crossing out a bad word for a good word meant. While the illustrations are beautiful I think this book oversimplified good and bad words. I think the overall message or topic is just lost within the text.

[CloudOfThoughts_Books Keirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I Colored in the World is such a great adorable book! We absolutely loved this and would definitely recommend!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I loved this book! It was insightful and so colorful. It made me happy and gave me hope.

[Yoo Kyung Sung · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, Ahmadreza Ahmadi is known as one of Iran's greatest contemporary poets.
Love illustration and creative ways the poet played with colors to express emotive reaction to a range of social issues. wise. International vibe is clear..not books from the US.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Katie Dicesare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newly published in the US, Iranian poet Ahmadreza Ahmadi playful changes the bad in the world with his colorful crayons. Beautiful and ideas and illustrations.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite all the kudos this book has received, it felt flat to me - children aren't stupid - you can't change the world just be colouring things differently!