Blue Goose and his friends, Yellow Chick, White Duck, and Red Rooster, use teamwork to paint their barnyard all the colors of the rainbow to surprise their Farmer Grey. The large pictures begin with all of the background in black-and-white, but as the birds paint together, each page gains more color. The simple sentences filled with repetition of the birds' names and colors is perfect for learning to identify the different colors and beginning to read.
The farmyard birds work together, mixing their paint to create new colors, like when Red Hen and Yellow Chick mixed their colors to make orange for the barn shutters. These examples in the book, and the color chart on the back cover provide opportunities for you to teach your little one the colors and how they are made. It also creates an environment to talk about teamwork and friendship; because when the birds work together they have more colors to play with and get more done. Children of varying ages can enjoy this book, a one-year-old may love pointing at the animals and colors and have you repeat them, while a four-year-old may like reciting the book back to you or begin to recognize the color words.
My four-year-old niece, Emily, enjoyed this book and wanted to paint together afterward. We practiced mixing the colors and creating green, orange, and purple, just like Blue Goose and his friends. Emily wanted to draw her own barnyard with animals, and then paint them silly colors. Her favorite was the purple cow, but she was sure to also include a blue goose.
--Audra