This is Orange by Rachel Poliquin illustrated by Julie Morstad

Witty, smart, and sophisticated. Kirkus Star review

There are lots of books recently published about colours but this one really stands out because who knew there was so much to say about orange. Did you know there was even a time when that specific colour did not have a name in English? Orange is a colour but it is also the name of a fruit and the colour of many other fruits such as mandarins and melons. But there is so much more. Think about flags, flowers, birds and pumpkins. 

In The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer describes the fox as a colour 'betwix yelow and reed'. In 1502 a portrait of Margaret, Tudor Queen of Scotland, shows her wearing 'slevys of orenge colour'. You will also discover how artists made this colour using minerals such as realgar and crocoite. Orange is found in nature too such as the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, the feet of a mallard duck and the feet of the puffin. Have you ever wondered why astronauts wear orange suits? And I discovered Canadian children wear orange shirts on September 30th each year to commemorate First Nations children who were taken from their homes.

Publisher blurb: Look closely. The color orange is all around you, not only in the natural world—from fruit and foxes to minerals and mushrooms—but in the human-engineered world, too, from works of art to religious ceremonies to astronaut survival suits. Ranging through time and circumnavigating the globe, witty stream-of-consciousness text and jaunty illustrations explore color through surprising social, historical, cultural, and artistic lenses. With more than thirty vivid examples and a gentle introduction to color theory, this eye-opening voyage into the heart of orange is a clever appeal to experience other colors—and the world at large—with an open and expansive mind.

It seems a little surprising to me that I have not heard or read a lot of 'hoopla' about this book. I first saw it in the Art Gallery of NSW shop in 2025 and quickly added it to my huge to read list. I should also mention that this is one of those books with a fabulous case reveal - you need to slide away the dust jacket to find the surprise underneath. Here is the webpage for Rachel Poliquin. I want to say you should add This is Orange to your school library but once again this is an international title with a high price of AUS$35. 

Julie Morstad is the illustrator of numerous acclaimed books for young readers, including House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg, When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano, and Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova by Laurel Snyder. She has been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award three times. Julie Morstad lives in Vancouver.

A tour de force through world history, the natural world, and cultural studies. ... With some uncommon words and packed with ideas, this compelling and humorous book lends itself as a read-aloud for early grades and is a must for all libraries. School Library Journal (starred review)

You can find more books about orange in this blog post from Kinderbookswitheverything. 

Here are some other books you could add to your school library about colours:

Green

Before Colors

Big book of Colorful foods

I can see Nature's Rainbow