Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Adventures in Color) [Hardcover]

Mary O'Neill (Author), John Wallner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1989 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Adventures in Color

What is orange? What is pink? What is white? Since its original publication in 1961, Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Mary O’Neill’s renowned work of poetry about the colors of the spectrum, has become a modern children’s classic. In 12 vivid poems, O’Neill explores and celebrates colors, showing how each one can be heard, touched, smelled, and seen.

John Wallner’s lavish illustrations, added to the book upon its reissue in 1989, perfectly complement O’Neill’s rich, rhythmic language. Children, parents, educators, and librarians continue to be engaged by this book, a true adventure in poetry and color.

Mary O’Neill’s Hailstones and Halibut Bones was published in 1961, becoming an instant classic.

John Wallner is the award-winning illustrator of more than 30 books for children.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1 Up-- O'Neill's classic collection of 12 poems about colors (Doubleday, 1973) has been re-illustrated by John Wallner. Gone are Leonard Weisgard's elegant, evocative illustrations that were washed with the color explored in the poem. Instead, Wallner has created montages of each poem's images and colored them with various hues of the featured color. The results do complement the moods of the poems, but one must wonder why, in a set of poems celebrating color, all but three of the people shown are white. Poems such as "What is Brown?"--"Brown is as comfortable/ As love"--could create responses like Arnold Adoff's Black is Brown is Tan (Harper, 1973) . Instead, it is illustrated with three white children and two white men working. But after more than 25 years, the poems, like colors, still sing. "For colors dance/ And colors sing,/ And colors cry--/ Turn off the light/ And colors die." Kudos to Doubleday for letting Hailstones and Halibut Bones continue to live. --Kathleen Whalin, formerly at Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“An exploration in imaginative, evocative verses of the world of color and its relationship to the other senses.”
—The New York Times Book Review, “Ten Distinguished Juveniles of 1961”

“Has inspired young poets all over the country.”
—Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers (April 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385244843
• ISBN-13: 978-0440840626
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.4 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Color It: Delight!, June 30, 2001

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Adventures in Color) (Hardcover)

This slim book was originally published in 1961 and by now, we may safely call it a classic. The title is taken from her poem "What is White?" A series of poems each entitled "What Is--- (Green, Gold, Red, Blue, etc.)" describes in ways you have never thought of what exactly the color is. I have never found the child who was not fascinated by the ideas presented and usually had a few additions of his/her own to add. I always thought this vivid book would bring much pleasure to a blind person who had never "seen" a color. Ms. O'Neill brings the feel, the taste and the mood of each color to a shimmering life of its own.

--the purple feeling

is rather put out.

The purple look is a

Definite pout.

But the purple sound

Is the loveliest thing

It's a violet opening

In the spring.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite in childhood, and now, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Adventures in Color) (Hardcover)

I loved this book when I was a kid - vivid imagery and evocative descriptions of colors. I am happy to see this has been reprinted! It's sophisticated for what it is, but utterly captivating for kids, as it describes colors in terms of smells, feelings, and other sensory images in ways that are imaginative and at times moody.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HAILSTONES AND HALIBUT BONES, December 18, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (PORT TOWNSEND, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Paperback)

I haven't seen the new edition, but the original was loved by my children in the 60's and now is a welcome addition to my 5 year old grandson's library. Don't wait until they are 9 to begin reading this classic to children. It's a winner.