The Colour of Happy

by Laura Baker, Angie Rozelaar (Illustrator)

A beautiful explanation of feelings shown through colour as one little boy navigates a range of emotions - from happiness and excitement to hope and love, all on his way to present a gift to his mum. Blue is for the calm I feel wandering in the spring. Yellow is for happy when I spot a special thing. This book is the perfect introduction to both emotions and colours.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2019

Reviews

[Ruby Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for expressing how children feel. The concepts of colour to express how your feeling could be used alongside the register in the mornings and after lunch time. I introduced this in KS1 on STB2 after the children were having issues in the playground with not resolving conflict. The concept is taken from an initiative to support children with autism, where they can use colour instead of words to express how they are feeling. It worked really well in the classroom and meant that the teacher could keep track with which children displayed concerning emotions on a day-to-day basis. The book would act as a child-friendly way to introduce the idea.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book and I can see so many opportunities it can produce in the classroom. It can often be quite confusing for children to understand their emotions and this book is such a great gateaway to introduce these feelings. Also a lot to talk about with the illustrations and choice of colour.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to share with young children to help explore their emotions. Told through a simple story, the little book experiences lots of different emotions, each related to a different colour. Good to help children link feelings to the names.

[Alison Wickham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is poetic, giving metaphorical colours for each feelings. Can use to introduce metaphors and create your own poem with metaphors. Could be used in pshe to discuss how feelings make you feel and maybe why that colour may be associated with it. Could also be used to understand emotions.

[Alice Maton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet. It takes us on the boys emotions expressed through colours. It has a nice rhyming pattern and rhythm which helps the flow. It can help children to understand the different emotions they and others feel to encourage expression and empathy.

[Mr Bramley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet and very simple little book that explores colours in relations to the emotions on a child’s short journey of excitement, loss, anger, friendship and love.

Each colour represents an emotional state on their journey, and the book describes how they feel, and the process of working through those feelings.

It doesn’t gloss over the fact that they are big emotions, and implies that all of them are natural and okay. But still shows that things such as friendship, finding fun, and love will help to make things better in the end.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A child explains how his feelings change over the course of a day as he tries to take a gift to his mother and the colors he feels match each feeling.

A sweet story of a mother and son. It would be interesting to see how someone from African or Asian cultures views this book. The colors associated with the feelings are Western ideas and I have a feeling someone from an Eastern culture would have picked different colors. A decent picture book to use when talking with children about how they are feeling or for Mother's Day.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the dandelion story as a way of providing a connective theme while identifying feelings. Miss 4 was happy that the colour pink was included.

Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Chloe Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as it is a good way to talk about emotions to children and how colours and emotions can link. The sentences in the story were fairly simple which is good for younger children to understand and there can be a good focus on the language. There is repetition in the language. I enjoyed the illustrations and how the boy journeyed through different emotions to bring a present for his mum.

[Jinan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for getting children to connect with, understand and express their emotions early on. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging and this book has relevance across a wide range of age groups. It can be used to reinforce the learning of colours as well as opening up dialogue about feelings. With easy vocabulary and rhyme I can imagine it would work for reading to children as well as independent reading.

[Charlotte Yardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely short story following the journey of a boy and his different emotions. This would be fantastic to use in KS1 introducing to children how they can express and regulate their emotions and feelings (in this instance, through linking a colour). It could also be used in some aspects of SEN and non - verbal children who may be able to identify the colour they are feeling.

[BrookesEducationLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and covering a range of children's feelings and the colours associated with them.

[Becky Sparkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations in this book. Would be a good book to link to art lessons painting a picture using the colours in this book to show the emotions of the pictures.

[Megan Ledbetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book which could be used as a way of allowing children to understand emotions.

[Izzy Dorrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for exploring different feelings.

[RosaDG · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story where the protagonist goes through different situations and that leads to a journey through the emotions that little readers can feel and associates them with different colors.

Protagonistak egoera desberdinak igarotzen dituen istorioa eta irakurle txikiek sentitu ditzaketen emozioetan zehar bidaia bat egiten duena eta kolore ezberdinekin lotzen dituena.

Un relato donde el protagonista va pasando por disatintas situaciones y que lleva a viajar por las emociones que los pequeños lectores pueden sentir y las asocia a distintos colores.

Une histoire où le protagoniste traverse différentes situations et qui conduit à un voyage à travers les émotions que les petits lecteurs peuvent ressentir et les associe à différentes couleurs.

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple book that uses different colours to express different feelings. It appears the purpose of the story is to explore feelings and how these feelings manifest themselves. I really enjoyed the use of dandelion blowing away as source of all these different feelings because it's something that all children can relate to e.g. losing something or having fun with a toy etc.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best example to understand your emotions