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It's a Great, Big Colorful World
A gray day turns into a kaleidoscope of fun in this marvelously offbeat and stimulating journey through the world of color.
One winter morning, Otto the cat looks out the window and sighs, "Why is everything so gray today?" Luckily his friend Leon the chameleon is around to show him just how many colors there are in the world. In these exciting and funny spreads filled to the brim with brilliantly illustrated objects, Leon and Otto identify people, places, and things of every hue. On pages dedicated to infinite shades of a single color, Tom Schamp's brilliant drawings play with perspective and unexpected pairings. An enormous Bengal tiger lords over an orange-tinted world, while a giant blue whale dwarfs elephants, pairs of jeans, and police officers. Throughout, cleverly inserted puns and allusions will elicit plenty of laughs from parents and children alike. Parents will enjoy the numerous ways color is depicted and kids will spend hours looking for their friends Otto and Leon as they traverse the busy pages. Best of all, this delightful adventure comes to a perfect end when all the colors come together in one beautiful, joyful rainbow of fun.
One winter morning, Otto the cat looks out the window and sighs, "Why is everything so gray today?" Luckily his friend Leon the chameleon is around to show him just how many colors there are in the world. In these exciting and funny spreads filled to the brim with brilliantly illustrated objects, Leon and Otto identify people, places, and things of every hue. On pages dedicated to infinite shades of a single color, Tom Schamp's brilliant drawings play with perspective and unexpected pairings. An enormous Bengal tiger lords over an orange-tinted world, while a giant blue whale dwarfs elephants, pairs of jeans, and police officers. Throughout, cleverly inserted puns and allusions will elicit plenty of laughs from parents and children alike. Parents will enjoy the numerous ways color is depicted and kids will spend hours looking for their friends Otto and Leon as they traverse the busy pages. Best of all, this delightful adventure comes to a perfect end when all the colors come together in one beautiful, joyful rainbow of fun.
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
48 pages, Hardcover
Published April 7, 2020
4 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Tom Schamp
70 books4 followersTom Schamp is a Belgian illustrator of children's books.
He graduated from Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design. He also studied Graphic Arts in Poznan
He graduated from Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design. He also studied Graphic Arts in Poznan
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 21, 2020
It’s a Great Big Colorful World by Tom Schamp. PICTURE BOOK. Prestel (Random House), 2020. $20. 9783791374246
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
The large format book was originally published in Dutch and takes the reader on a tour of colors, starting with gray. There are four pages dedicated to each color and there are some clues that suggest the two spreads move from one part of the world to another.
I love the color energy of this book but I had a hard time reading it. Some of the labels are a larger size from the others, making it confusing as to whether those continue a storyline. I also had a hard time seeing the continent divides in the pages even though many of the labels suggest that movement is happening.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
The large format book was originally published in Dutch and takes the reader on a tour of colors, starting with gray. There are four pages dedicated to each color and there are some clues that suggest the two spreads move from one part of the world to another.
I love the color energy of this book but I had a hard time reading it. Some of the labels are a larger size from the others, making it confusing as to whether those continue a storyline. I also had a hard time seeing the continent divides in the pages even though many of the labels suggest that movement is happening.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
February 28, 2020
This is a different type of kiddie book. Obviously, it is a children's book and yet the adults guiding the reading and education of children will see much more tucked away within its pages.
True, there is a diversity of colors in the world in which we live. The sun is yellow, a rose is red, the sky is blue - except when it is grey. Lots of colors in this world.
The story, if one can actually call it a story, is that of a cat who awakes to a day that is so very grey. And a chameleon joins him as they traipse through the colorful world discovering just what is grey, what is black, what is pink, red, green, brown, etc.
But tucked away within the pages of jumbled images sketched randomly about the pages and colored with the color-of-the-day are statements that polarize into a very different world from that of a child.....
The cat pondering a grey world..... is told by the chameleon that the sky is always blue above the clouds.
"The truth is never black or white."
Respect for age..... "With time comes wisdom," "Respect my gray hair!"
"Religions tend to see the world in black and white." "We mustn't see things too black and white."
"Ebony and Ivory live together in harmony." (i.e. a piano)
Just a lot of images, a lot of statements, some satire, some wisdom, some silliness. And then at the end after all these colors have paraded through the book they all come together to show how it all blended beautifully to become our beautiful, colorful world.
There are hours of pondering and laughter packed on these pages. And all in all a nice book. Not a highly educational book, not a story book in the true sense of the word, and truly a lot of nonsensical stuff. A good choice to bring home from the library to ponder and chuckle through.
Personally, I think this book while cute is quite over-the-heads of ages 2-5 as intended.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
True, there is a diversity of colors in the world in which we live. The sun is yellow, a rose is red, the sky is blue - except when it is grey. Lots of colors in this world.
The story, if one can actually call it a story, is that of a cat who awakes to a day that is so very grey. And a chameleon joins him as they traipse through the colorful world discovering just what is grey, what is black, what is pink, red, green, brown, etc.
But tucked away within the pages of jumbled images sketched randomly about the pages and colored with the color-of-the-day are statements that polarize into a very different world from that of a child.....
The cat pondering a grey world..... is told by the chameleon that the sky is always blue above the clouds.
"The truth is never black or white."
Respect for age..... "With time comes wisdom," "Respect my gray hair!"
"Religions tend to see the world in black and white." "We mustn't see things too black and white."
"Ebony and Ivory live together in harmony." (i.e. a piano)
Just a lot of images, a lot of statements, some satire, some wisdom, some silliness. And then at the end after all these colors have paraded through the book they all come together to show how it all blended beautifully to become our beautiful, colorful world.
There are hours of pondering and laughter packed on these pages. And all in all a nice book. Not a highly educational book, not a story book in the true sense of the word, and truly a lot of nonsensical stuff. A good choice to bring home from the library to ponder and chuckle through.
Personally, I think this book while cute is quite over-the-heads of ages 2-5 as intended.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
February 10, 2022
A quirky, fun and quite frankly stunning picture book, unlike anything I’ve read before.
When Otto the cat wakes up one gloomy morning and wonders mournfully why everything is so grey, his friend Leon the chameleon takes him on a journey through a riot of colour in order to change his mind.
A double page spread is dedicated to every colour of the rainbow - and all the different shades in between - with the vivid illustrations arranged in the spirit of a scrapbook. Each illustration is complemented with facts, pop culture references and visual jokes. Young readers will enjoy spotting Otto and Leon as they traverse the busy and informative pages on their tour of this great, big colourful world, learning plenty as they go.
It’s a Great, Big Colourful World is an astoundingly creative and multi-faceted feast for the eyes. It’s a great, big colourful book that young and older readers alike are sure to pore over for hours!
With thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
When Otto the cat wakes up one gloomy morning and wonders mournfully why everything is so grey, his friend Leon the chameleon takes him on a journey through a riot of colour in order to change his mind.
A double page spread is dedicated to every colour of the rainbow - and all the different shades in between - with the vivid illustrations arranged in the spirit of a scrapbook. Each illustration is complemented with facts, pop culture references and visual jokes. Young readers will enjoy spotting Otto and Leon as they traverse the busy and informative pages on their tour of this great, big colourful world, learning plenty as they go.
It’s a Great, Big Colourful World is an astoundingly creative and multi-faceted feast for the eyes. It’s a great, big colourful book that young and older readers alike are sure to pore over for hours!
With thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
December 28, 2018
Opnieuw een prachtig boek van Tom Schamp waarin je kan blijven verdwalen tussen de prachtige tekeningen en de (woord)grapjes.
February 14, 2020
This book is much too chaotic, with a lot of random text all over the page and wild illustrations of random things. The whole thing is aimless, and doesn't tell a story or have any structure other than to group colors together. It's too busy for a child to be able to focus on anything. If it were 20 or even 30 items on the page, I would have enjoyed it more. I counted over 50 separate items on one page, not counting the text.
The text doesn't always make sense. There's a picture of a rabbit coming out of a hat, and the text says, "Rabbit with prunes?" I have no clue what that means. The text next to a paint can reads, "Is this soup? Red soup is a fact of life." Next to a blue airplane, the text says, "Can you fly through a faucet? These days almost all mail travels by cloud." A blue swan has the text, "These swans don't sirens or flashing blue lights." That's not even a sentence! And there is nothing else on the page that I can see that does have sirens and flashing blue lights. So what are they comparing it to?
I'm not really sure who this book is for. It doesn't seem to be for children, because a lot of the pop references to the Beatles or National Geographic Magazine would be over their heads. But it's not for teens or adults either, because the drawings and organization is too juvenile. There were a lot of pop references that I didn't even recognize, and popular sayings or idioms that I didn't know.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
The text doesn't always make sense. There's a picture of a rabbit coming out of a hat, and the text says, "Rabbit with prunes?" I have no clue what that means. The text next to a paint can reads, "Is this soup? Red soup is a fact of life." Next to a blue airplane, the text says, "Can you fly through a faucet? These days almost all mail travels by cloud." A blue swan has the text, "These swans don't sirens or flashing blue lights." That's not even a sentence! And there is nothing else on the page that I can see that does have sirens and flashing blue lights. So what are they comparing it to?
I'm not really sure who this book is for. It doesn't seem to be for children, because a lot of the pop references to the Beatles or National Geographic Magazine would be over their heads. But it's not for teens or adults either, because the drawings and organization is too juvenile. There were a lot of pop references that I didn't even recognize, and popular sayings or idioms that I didn't know.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
March 18, 2020
The book begins with Otto the cat looking out on a particularly grey day. The double-paged spread features all kinds of things that are grey including the biggest land animal (an elephant, of course), grey clouds, fog is grey, and the cozy grey house that the goats live in. In amongst the grey, there are reminders that other colors exist including the sky above the clouds is always blue. The next page features items that are black and white, the two colors that make grey.
Then suddenly the pages burst with color starting with yellow, then orange, red, pink, blue, green, brown and finally all the colors. The pages are set up much like a Richard Scarry type of book with pictures of items and the words or sentences to describe them.
Parents will love all the witty puns on the pages and children will love looking for Otto the cat and his friend Leon the chameleon on the pages. This is a book that will take many times of reading to find everything on the pages. My favorite is the orange page featuring the Bengal tiger. Children can learn a little bit about the colors and the items on the page and stay busy for awhile looking for all the items on the pages.
This is perfect for preschool and kindergarten-aged children. It’s a great way to learn their colors or word and picture identification. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and kids will be drawn to the pages. I highly recommend this one.
Then suddenly the pages burst with color starting with yellow, then orange, red, pink, blue, green, brown and finally all the colors. The pages are set up much like a Richard Scarry type of book with pictures of items and the words or sentences to describe them.
Parents will love all the witty puns on the pages and children will love looking for Otto the cat and his friend Leon the chameleon on the pages. This is a book that will take many times of reading to find everything on the pages. My favorite is the orange page featuring the Bengal tiger. Children can learn a little bit about the colors and the items on the page and stay busy for awhile looking for all the items on the pages.
This is perfect for preschool and kindergarten-aged children. It’s a great way to learn their colors or word and picture identification. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and kids will be drawn to the pages. I highly recommend this one.
January 6, 2020
Absolutely stunning picture book that will give hours and hours of enjoyment. Otto, the cat, wakes up one morning and wonders why everything is so grey. He is then taken on a journey by Leon, the chameleon, to show him that not only are beautiful things grey - such as elephants, clouds, cats and pebbles - but that the world is full of colours. We then travel through double-page spreads filled with illustrations, quirky facts, puns and visual jokes moving through white, black, yellow, orange, red, pink, blue, green and brown until they all come together in a rainbow-coloured world. But don't be fooled into thinking this is a simple book about basic colours, it covers every shade and hue imaginable. For example, the blue pages aren't just about blue - they encompass indigo, aqua, teal, sky, and every tone in-between. Although this book doesn't have a story as such there is a lot to read and even more to look at. It's the sort of book where a reader will find something different every time they pick it up. Quirky, fascinating and interesting.
March 29, 2020
In this colorful guide young readers will be introduced to Otto and Leon who love colorful things. Each page has a theme and shares a vibrant color and all things that are that color or can be like that color. When you think of the color gray, is it just dark rain clouds, or is it gentle giants like an elephant? Black and white represent zebras, pandas and even opposites. Yellow is bright and cheery like baby ducks, bumble bees and pineapples. Orange is peppy like pumpkins, clementine’s and caution cones. Red is fast like a sportscar, fire truck and Santa in his sleigh. Have you seen a pink Cadillac or pink flamingo? Readers will also find bright blue hues and gorgeous greens too.
This fantastic book filled with color, objects, animals, food and fun little phrases that will keep young learners engaged. Parents, teachers and caregivers can share this little tool to teach, words, colors, animals, food, vehicles and so much more. There is something here for everyone including adults.
This fantastic book filled with color, objects, animals, food and fun little phrases that will keep young learners engaged. Parents, teachers and caregivers can share this little tool to teach, words, colors, animals, food, vehicles and so much more. There is something here for everyone including adults.
April 16, 2020
There are so many colors! Otto the Cat thinks all he can see is grey, so his friend teaches him about all the things that can be certain colors in our world - grey/black white, yellow, orange, red, pink, blue, green and brown, culminating with an amazing rainbow spread of everything. Every illustration is labeled, sometimes with fun facts or cultural references.
Translated from Dutch, this oversized book has a lot going on. Like the Richard Scarry Busytown books, there are maybe 50+ pictures on each page, often 4 pages per color. My granddaughter was delighted with the illustrations - she literally laid down on the book to see if she was the same size as the tiger (she was bigger) It needed several revisits to finish however, with so much contained on every page, she became quickly overwhelmed. For the adults, there are tons of musical references (Yellow Submarine, Pink Cadillac, Blue Suede Shoes).
for this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
Translated from Dutch, this oversized book has a lot going on. Like the Richard Scarry Busytown books, there are maybe 50+ pictures on each page, often 4 pages per color. My granddaughter was delighted with the illustrations - she literally laid down on the book to see if she was the same size as the tiger (she was bigger) It needed several revisits to finish however, with so much contained on every page, she became quickly overwhelmed. For the adults, there are tons of musical references (Yellow Submarine, Pink Cadillac, Blue Suede Shoes).
for this and more of my reviews, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com
March 3, 2020
Going on a road trip soon? This should definitely be one of your “secret weapons.”
For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...
For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...
May 15, 2020
This book is really just a book for adults who wanna get lost in little illustrations for a while.
March 26, 2025
So beautiful and detailed. The imagery is so so fun. Like a search and find of the silliest character on the page. Imaginative and inspiring
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews