A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

Rating: 5 stars

Lionni's sad and lonely chameleon is bummed about the fact that all animals have a color of their own, except for chameleons.  They change color wherever they go.  He wants a color of his own.  Just like everyone else has.

He wants it so much that he sticks himself to a leaf, thinking he'll be green forever.  But then fall comes and...oops, he turns orange.  Then red.  And then the leaf falls to the ground, with the chameleon in tow.  Drat.  (Hate it when that happens.)

Still frustrated, he meets an older and wiser chameleon and tells his sad story--he can't find his own true color.  The old chameleon explains that that's the beauty of being a chameleon, but perhaps they should stick together, and they'll be different together.

"Won't we ever have a color of our own?"

What a nice and comforting moral: rather than conform to what everyone else has or does or is, find someone with whom you can be different.

This is such a simple, little book and there are a zillion activities that you can do with your kid.  There are actually too many for me to list here, but google it and you'll find exactly one zillion.

But the best is to do what I just did, I think--have the book out, and when your little Ben asks about it, pull them up on your lap and read it to them.  And hope really hard that they find someone that can stick with them and be their color with them, forever.

Beth's Post: Inch By Inch by Leo Lionni

Inch By Inch by Leo Lionni

Rating: 4 stars

Out of the library of Leo Lionni books we own, my daughter chose Inch By Inch to read tonight. Always happy to read a book with beautiful illustrations and a happy ending, I cheerfully agreed. This Caldecott Honor Book was published in 1960 and still is just thrilling enough for a two or three year old inch worm loving child.


The inchworm is able to convince a hungry robin that he is useful in measuring all of the birds. He is able to measure long enough to measure the song of the nightingale inch by inch until he inches himself out of sight. It’s the perfect length and subject matter for “one more book” before bed.

The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni

The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni

Rating: 4.5 stars

We need to read more Leo Lionni books.  Swimmy was one of my favorite books growing up, and he has so many different books that there are plenty to explore.  Because I feel a little guilty for knowing so little about his books, we grabbed this one the last time we were at the library.  It's so great, and hits us at an especially good time as Lorelei is interested in and curious about reading and writing and spelling.

So here's what happens in the book:  There's this tree, the alphabet tree, and all the letters cling separately onto leaves on the tree.  A big gust of wind blows through the tree, blowing some of them away.  The remaining letters are scared, and huddle together in a big clump at the base of the tree.  The "word bug" flies in and suggests they group themselves into words so that they're stronger.  This they do, spelling "cat" and "dog" and "wind;" now they are able to sun themselves on the top branches without fear of getting blown away. 

Then a fuzzy caterpillar creeps up and suggests they get together and "mean something."  He helps them make sentences, which they happily do, but he's still not satisfied.  "You've got to say something important," he explains.  So they spell out: "Peace on earth and goodwill to all men."  All critters and letters are pleased, but the caterpillar tells them to hop on his back, so he can take them to the President.

The book was written in 1968, during the Vietnam War.  I'm not a huge advocate of political messages in books, but...this one made me smile, mostly out of respect for the crazy time period that came before my birth and for the fact that a lot of people would agree with this book and gift this book today if they knew about it.

So we'll keep exploring Leo Lionni; rgardless of his political views, we like his style.  Got any favorites to recommend?