Hailstones and Halibut bones Adventures in colour by Mary O'Neill

My love of this old poetry book begins with the front cover.  I am a major fan of lighthouses.  This illustration comes from the poem What is Blue?  Each poem has a title like this - What is Red? What is Gold? and so on.

My favourite poem is What is Green?  Here are some lines that I love:

Green is the grass
And the leaves of trees
Green is the smell
Of a country breeze
...
Green is coolness
You get in the shade
Of the tall old woods
Where the moss is made.
...
April is green
Peppermint too.
Every elf has
One green shoe.

In my library I have an old video that compliments this lyrical book.  This book was first published in 1961 but reading it now still feels as fresh as that country breeze.

Here is a set of lesson ideas.  You can see some of the illustrations by Leonard Weisgard here.

You might also like The Black book of Colours. I met the illustrator Rosana Faria at the IBBY Congress in London this year.