G4: Living Color

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, Steve. 2007. LIVING COLOR. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 978-0-618-70897-0.

This book examines color in nature, specifically how and why insects, reptiles, birds, amphibians and marine animals use their colors for different purposes. Each of the seven sections is divided by color—-red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple and pink—-and explores anywhere from six to 15 creatures. Short explanations accompany the lifelike collage illustrations, along with largely first-person “captions” that humanize the subjects. After the color sections, there are two further informative sections. The first asks and answers questions about colors in nature, while the second provides smaller illustrations of and facts on the sizes, habitats and diets of the creatures.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Though the baseline audience for this book begins in kindergarten, according to reviewers and the publisher, its accuracy and wealth of information would attract older readers as well. Younger readers would enjoy to its lifelike and detailed collage illustrations but could experience difficulties in comprehending its explanations, answers and background information independently.

The language throughout is not scientific, but its nouns are specific, its verbs strong, and its adjectives exact and descriptive. Readers learn that an “anemone’s body is colorless and transparent” (Green), that yellow crazy ants “kill or blind other animals by spraying them with acid from an opening in their abdomen” (Yellow), and that “potential predators recognize the bright color of the wrasse and do not eat it” (Blue). To his credit, Jenkins repeats “scientific” words throughout—“predators” and “tentacles,” for example—a stylistic practice that would assist younger readers in acquiring new vocabulary items. For all readers, a helpful yet non-technical pronunciation guide is included for the more difficult names.

Each of the explanations generally consists of anywhere from three to five straightforward sentences, usually fronted by a subject-verb combination. In the rare cases where this is not the pattern and the subject appears after a subordinate clause, the writing is still clear. The answers to the “frequently asked questions” in the back of the book are longer than the animal explanations, but they use devices such as questions, repetition, and numbering for clarity. Finally, the section on size, habitat and diet rounds out the information for each animal with shorter, table-like specifics and two or three sentences of additional focused and easily memorized information. As in Jenkins’s other books on nature, animals and science targeted at younger readers, the information in this book is accurate and to the point.

Organizationally, the idea of using predominant colors works well. Dividing the book by species would have added just another predictable animal book to the mix, but the color divisions in this one allow for lesser known and more far-flung creatures to receive a bit of attention. Who has encountered the leafy sea dragon, the garibaldi (fish), ringed caecilian (amphibian), or the olm (amphibian) elsewhere? Well, they’re here, open to all on two-page spreads with the color written in large type, six to eight collages on each, and cute captions that seem to summarize some aspect of the animal in a minimum of words. Many of these captions are humorous and could be use to connect with younger readers: “Don’t touch!” “Boo!” and “I’m very emotional.” (This last one is for the African chameleon that changes colors according to its emotions.) The question and information sections are more jam-packed with information, but each is still laid out with ample white space and a consistent, easy-to-follow design.

The collages are the centerpiece of each page of this book, literally jumping out at the reader to create a sense of interaction with the animals. Each collage seems to consist of a number of layers of different shades and subtle changes in color, assembled in what must have been a painstaking process. While the large collages of the white uakaris (Red), the great hornbill (Yellow), and the long-wattled umbrella bird (Purple) demonstrate Jenkins’s craftsmanship, his deftness emerges in the detail of his smaller pieces. The green tiger beetle (Green), blue-tailed skink (Blue), and even his drab mammal in the question-and-answer section are extraordinary. Though the animals are rendered in a lifelike manner, their size is not, as evidenced by the orange pygmy seahorse, which measures over four inches in the book but is less than an inch in its native habitat.

With the combination of his collages and approachable, informational text that reinforces at every turn the idea that colors means survival in what can be a harsh world, Jenkins has given readers a captivating scientific book. Did you know that a female parrotfish can change her sex in the absence of a male? Or that mammals are brown and gray to blend in with their environment, just as the leaf oyster with its orange sponge blends in with its environment? Or that you can find a tomato frog in Madagascar? If not, you may want to consider reading this book. Even if you did know these things, you may want to keep this book close by if only to entertain yourself.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
--Cleverly organized around seven colors, including purple and pink, this book is jam-packed with visual and written information about scores of animals… Back matter includes more facts about animal color and about the creatures themselves. Another amazing work by a master illustrator. (SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, June 2005)
-- Jenkins once again astounds with his amazing lifelike paper collage in this book about animal color and the many functions it serves…The combination of easy-to-understand language and gorgeous illustrations makes this a prime choice for any young animal enthusiast's collection. (PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY, March 2005)
--From the pink fairy armadillo to the purple deep-sea dragonfish, readers will be fascinated by the panoply of critters that often seem the stuff of fairy lore and educators will applaud the clever concept of presenting survival adaptations as a biological fashion show. (BOOKLIST, August 2007)

Review excerpts from the BOOKS IN PRINT database

CONNECTIONS
--The collage illustrations would be a perfect accompaniment to a visual arts unit built around studying how to depict natural phenomena or even portraits. (Many of the collages have the feeling of being almost alive.)
--The descriptions of how animals use color in all sections of the book would be excellent exemplars for scientific writing to be explored during science or English classes.
--Don’t forget to read more Steve Jenkins, especially his Caldecott Honor book, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS? 2004. ISBN: 978-0618256280. (The main thing to remember is not to limit yourself to these two…read them all!)
--Other books on animal color, as suggested by the author in a helpful bibliography at the back of the book:
Collard, Sneed B. 1998. ANIMAL DAZZLERS: THE ROLE OF BRILLLIANT COLORS IN NATURE. ISBN: 978-0531159187.
Fogden, Michael & Patricia Fogden. 1974. ANIMALS AND THEIR COLOR: CAMOUFLAGE, WARNING COLORATION, COURTSHIP AND TERRITORIAL DISPLAY. ISBN: 978-0517514894.
Knight, Tim. 2003. DRAMATIC DISPLAYS. ISBN: 978-0613609623.
Stockland, Patricia M. 2005. RED EYES OR BLUE FEATHERS: A BOOK ABOUT ANIMAL COLORS. ISBN: 978-1404809314.