Color Zoo

Color Zoo. written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. 1989. New York: HarperCollins. 40 p. (0397322593).

Author/Illustrator Website: none

Media: collage with die-cut pages

Awards and Honors: Caldecott Honor

Audience: 2 and up

Annotation:
Color Zoo juxtaposes brightly colored geometric shapes to create striking illustrations of zoo animals.

Personal Reaction:
Color Zoo is an inventive and engaging concept book for young children that teaches colors, shapes and animals. As the reader turns the pages, die-cut pages reveal new animal faces each made from a collection of brightly colored geometric shapes. There's something magical about seeing each new animal appear as the pages are turned. Even cooler is how the animals all use the same background, yet appear so distinctly different by virtue of their frames. Each spread features an animal on the right and a shape on the left. At the end of the book, Ehlert shows all the shapes and colors, as well as the animals in the book.