Samuel Todd's Book of Great Colors

by E.L. Konigsburg

What's Your Favorite color? Samuel Todd likes colors, colors of all kinds. Colors are full of surprises: A pumpkin is all orange, but not all orange is a pumpkin. And if pink is supposed to be for little girls, why are boy flamingos just as pink as girl flamingos? Most surprising of all is that -- even though all colors are great -- some of the best things have no color at all. After all, what color is a hug or a song? As in Samuel Todd"s Book of Great Inventions, two-time Newbery Medalist E. L. Konigsburg gets inside the mind and heart of a little boy marveling at the world he lives in, and creates a fresh and perceptive look at everyday things.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of six writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association award for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature."
Konigsburg submitted her first two manuscripts to editor Jean E. Karl at Atheneum Publishers in 1966, and both were published in 1967: Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler won the 1968 Newbery Medal, and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was listed as a runner-up in the same year, making Konigsburg the only author to win the Newbery Medal and have another book listed as runner-up in the same year. She won again for The View from Saturday in 1997, 29 years later, the longest span between two Newberys awarded to one author.
For her contribution as a children's writer Konigsburg was U.S. nominee in 2006 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition available to creators of children's books.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh! It's not just another picture book about colors. It can be read that way with toddlers, but because it's written as if in the voice of the boy Samuel Todd, about his impressions of and thoughts about colors and things that are colored, it can be enjoyed by older children, too. And Konigsburg has such talent that even though the boy's voice is authentic, it's also graceful enough to be considered poetic. I've long enjoyed the author's MG novels; now I will look for more of her picture-books, too.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is sweet. It's a simple introduction to colors, but is slightly more inclusive of gender non-conformity with lines such as "Pink is for little girls, they say, unless they know about flamingos."

My main objection is that pictures have white backgrounds which overlap and cut into other pictures.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are a bit dated, but I thought the writing was sweet.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book colors get introduced to the reader through simple pictures of things, that are typical for the certain color that got introduced. A nice beginning book!

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great text!