Customer Reviews

Little Blue and Little Yellow

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4 star:		(5)
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Ever feel like you've been stumped by a book? Like a moral of a story has been staring you in the face and you're just too slow or dim-witted to get it? Such was my reaction after reading Leo Lionni's elusive, "Little Blue and Little Yellow". I liked it. Of course I did. But on my honor as a gentleman I just did NOT get the book's message. Which is perhaps exactly as it should be.

We all are familiar with Leo Lionni's work, even if we don't initially think we are. Whether you've seen his cut out mice or forest scenes, his is a recognizable style. In this particular book Lionni has relied on roughly hewn pieces of brightly colored paper (or is it fabric?) to tell a story. The tale follows two blobs of color. On is Blue. The other is Yellow. Yellow and Blue are good friends and lead productive blobby lives with their other little friends. They play games, attend school, etc. One day Blue looses Yellow for a little while and when they are reunited they hug until they meld into a single splotch of green. The single green splotch, however, looks nothing like Blue or Yellow. Whatever will our intrepid heroes do?

Suffice to say, all turns out well in the end. The status quo is maintained, peace reigns, yadda yadda yadda. So what's the moral of the story? Just to help you figure it out, the last two pages of the text display Blue and Yellows momma and poppas hugging one another until THEY turn green. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all. But it certainly does make for an interesting tale. Nothing like simplicity to tie up the ole synapses for a while.

I can see children enjoying this book. I can also see different children growing bored with this book. It really is going to depend on the child more than anything else. If you have a kid that likes rousing adventures about (oh I dunno) tangible objects, this may not be the book for them. If, however, you've a child who's a little more dreamy. A little more open to different kinds of stories and characters, consider this book a perfect fit. Colorful, interesting, and unique. Lionni does many things with this book, but he does not disappoint.

Ask me what my favorite book was when I was growing up and that answer is going to be Little Blue and Little Yellow. Sure, there were other books that I'd read over and over again, or sit in the library with a stack of em on a Friday afternoon after school, but none was like Little Blue and Little Yellow.

I can't describe why or how, but the book just connected with me. Fast-forward over 25 years later and here I am, a graphic designer, and I still am inspired by this book. I'm also a teacher and usually mention this book during my class, as it pertains to graphic design and the mixture of colors. Every time I tell the story, the class enjoys it immensely. And I teach adults mind you :)

This is a sweet book that is simple yet complex. On the surface it is a story of two color friends that blend together, but if you look deeper you can see the lessons of race relations. One of my favorite books by Lionni.

This is a book I read many times as a child. I still have
that worn copy and treasure it as one of my favorites. It tells
a story of friendship in which the characters are illustrated by torn
circles of colour. A little colour theory is added to the mix
(yellow and blue become green) and all ends happily. Some
reviewers I think read a little too much into it and see comments
about racial prejudice. The parents' are not prejudiced,
they simply do not recognize their children. Delightful!

To an adult, this book doesn't seem like anything all that special. It's about colored dots. The story is sweet, though, and easy for young children to appreciate. My multi-age 3-5 year old classroom loved it (I used it with our science unit on colors). It's great for talking about color (blue and yellow make green) and about appreciating differences (race).
I heard a horror story from a fellow teacher about this book that other teachers should be aware of: a kindergarten teacher read this book to her students and was repremanded by her principal. He said that when little blue and little yellow hug, and make green, it is sexual. He also said that it is racist that little blue's parents are blue and little yellow's parents are yellow and this does not reflect a multi-cultural view. Both of these seem silly to me. Just be aware.
Personally, I love it and so did my students!

I have been a Fredrick fan since childhood and still read it today when I get stressed, so always looking to have my kids find the same connection with the Lionni works. Got this and 2 of them were bored, but my 4 year old was different. She listened intently and has for months been making diffent associations on how things mix or work together for an end "just like little blue and little yellow". Perhaps she is the most like me, poor thing! It is in the same vein as the others but less obvious, which is not neccessarily a bad thing. Encouraging thought and imagination requires careful writing and too many modern stories spoonfeed the moral. I accept and encourage my 4 yr olds interpretations!

My parents' copy of this wonderful, colorful picture book is taped back together after reading it to three young children. I remember loving the pictures and the simple story. I plan on reading it to my kids (if I can only get my mom to give it up!) and hope they'll love it as much as I did. Little Blue and Little Yellow is such a fantastic book because of the universal concepts in it: love, friendship, and parenting. I recommend it to teachers, parents, babysitters, and kids.

As a child I was read to from this book and then I read it myself. This was hands down my favorite book. As a grandparent, I thought how appropriate this book is today as we are all living in a blended society and that's exactly what Little Blue and Little Yellow do----they blend, make green and have fun along the way.....They learn it's fun to make new "friends", and color doesn't matter...it's what's inside that makes you special!! Amazon.com had it with one click......I visited a brick and morter store and my search was futile!! Amazon.com is the HERO again!!

I love this book! It's so simple, perfect for reading to young kids with fairly short attention spans, and the pages are so uncluttered that the point really gets across---two main points, actually---that blue and yellow make green, and that color is just on the outside, we are all the same on the inside. The characters are all color blotches, but treated by the author just as people, and this doesn't seem to confuse kids at all---they accept this odd world and love it. I was reminded of something that used to be shown on Sesame Street LONG along in the early days of the show---when lots of little dots would line up, and sometimes one would be late, or one would have a baby dot with it---the same sort of alternate but clear and simple world!

I looked everywhere for this book when my kids were very young (apparently not at Amazon, eh?). I picked it up at our local library as a child in the 50's (back when children were allowed to walk alone to school and the library) and never forgot it. Even as a small child I was blown away by its simple message of embracing each others differences. FYI, this book was the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year in 1959.