Green on Green

by Dianne White, Felicita Sala (Illustrator)

Overview

Discover the joys of nature, seasons, family—and the vibrant colors of them all—in this lyrical picture book from the author of the acclaimed Blue on Blue.

A child is on a colorful journey through the seasons, filled with yellow flowers and blue coral in spring and summer and orange pumpkins and green pine forests in fall and winter. All the while, there is another colorful change on the horizon—the birth of a new sibling.

With gentle, rhyming text and vivid artwork, this book is a heartfelt celebration of family, nature, seasons, colors, and the wonder and magic of them all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481462792
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	350L (what's this?)
File size:	51 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dianne White lives in Gilbert, Arizona, with her family. She is the author of Who Eats Orange?, Blue on Blue, Green on Green, Dark on Light, and It’s Your Time to Shine.

Felicita Sala is a self-taught illustrator and painter. She has a degree in philosophy from the University of Western Australia. She now lives and works in Rome. She draws inspiration from nature, children, mid-century illustration, folk art, and architecture.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/23/2019

“Lemonade petals./ Sunflakes between./ Lemonade, sunflakes, and yellow on green.” Sala (What’s Cooking at 10 Garden Street?) anchors this serene, incantatory poem by White (Who Eats Orange?) with a family—mother, father, child, all with brown skin and black hair—she follows through the seasons. With feather-light economy, White’s musical language (“Gentle the breezes./ Rain between./ Breezes and rain and yellow on green”) combines color and sensation. In watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil, soft lines and saturated hues mark each new season: an apple harvest for fall, a snow-laden spruce for winter. As the weather grows colder (“Cinnamon spice./ Almond between./ Cinnamon, almond, and brown on green”), it becomes clear that the family is expecting a baby. Rolling winter farmland signals space and peace; the family gathers with others to sing carols, and the child lays a hand on their mother’s stomach with a smile. Soon, the mother and an infant are visible through the house’s window. White’s words beat at the same slow pace as time lived by the seasons, and Sala’s paintings celebrate lives immersed in nature’s wealth. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2020

PreS-Gr 1—"Yellow the flower./Yellow the seed./Yellow and black the buzzing bee." Starting in the spring, this gentle verse story follows a small boy, his family, and their friends over the course of one year. Each season brings its own cozy delights, lushly depicted in Sala's colorful spreads. Whether it's the child playing in puddles and enjoying spring flowers, exploring the beach and picnicking with family and friends in the summer, savoring autumnal repasts, or caroling in the winter, each scene brims with love, warmth, and rural tranquility. Sharp-eyed readers will enjoy finding elements repeated throughout—a striped lighthouse in the background, the family's horse and dog, different views of the boy's house, the mother's growing belly, and the appearance of a new baby in early spring. Both the mixed media illustrations and White's pithy verses highlight the special colors of each season, with a soothing refrain of "[color] on green"—yellow in spring, blue in summer, brown in autumn, finally white in winter. VERDICT A quietly comforting celebration of family and nature that can enrich most collections.—Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

School Library Journal

2019-11-10
A celebration of colors through a full cycle of the seasons.

This rhyming, lyrical story opens with a blue-eyed, dark-skinned mother and child enjoying the yellow flowers in a grassy green meadow with the father riding horseback nearby and a lighthouse on the coast in the background. The text accompanying each seasonal sequence includes a refrain that focuses on the colors: "yellow on green" for springtime. The rhythmic text practically sings of the shifting seasons, as spring turns to summer, summer to fall, and so on, while the matte illustrations reveal the child's curiosity, the family's bonds, and the mother's growing roundness as they all prepare for the birth of a baby. A summer trip to the beach brings "turquoise, teal, and blue on green"; "toasty and warm" "cinnamon, almond, and brown on green" abound in fall; winter comes with "gray and taupe and white on green"; and spring sees the addition of a new family member. Since every season includes green, it remains a touchpoint and a refrain throughout. Insects and animals, including the family dog, show up on most pages, giving detail-oriented readers lots to explore. Sala's intentional inclusion of diversity in this rural community, as folks gather for activities and events, offers mirrors for many kinds of readers and emphasizes the richness of cross-cultural sharing.

A beautifully illustrated, peaceful song of family, community, and new birth. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews