Blue by Nan Ekua Brew-Hammon

What’s special about the color blue? A lot!

Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and Wide as the Sky Nana Ekua Brew-Hammon, illustrated by Daniel Minter. Knopf, 2022, 32 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 6-12

Are you “blue”?

Color is a constant of life that we take for granted. God clothes creation in every imaginable color, yet entire books have been written about the struggles to obtain those colors to clothe ourselves. Reliable dyes have come about after centuries of trial and error, often at great expense and even violence. Blue is primary: it forms the boundary of our horizon and reflects off water and bursts out of the ground with every spring, but capturing it for human use is a story spanning thousands of years. This world-history tour takes us through lapis-crushing in ancient Egypt and cobalt-mines of Persia, snail-harvesting in Mexico and indigo plantations of colonial America. Blue is a royal color and a sacred color, adorning kings and emperors, a tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem.

“Blue” has a mood and character all its own: “Because of its scarcity, mystery, and holy association, blue was more than a color. It was a feeling.” The richly-colored, evocative illustrations prominently feature people of color engaged in weaving, dying, printing, and (most especially) wearing shades of blue. But more provocative than the color itself is the fact that our eyes are made to see it. Take time to appreciate that as you read this book.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: More picture books featuring color: A Splash of Red (starred review) and Charley Harper’s Book of Colors.
• Reviews: Speaking of color, see our reviews of Creative God, Colorful Us (starred review) and the NKJV Color Code Bible.
• Resource: And speaking of art, here are Five Ways to Encourage Art Appreciation through Picture Books.

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