They Say Blue

About this book

In They Say Blue, we follow a young girl as she explores different colours in the world over the course of a year. The sea is blue, but this isn't true of the water she cups in her hands. She cannot see her own blood, but she still knows it is red and pumps around inside her.

These are just some of the free-association ideas – often poetic and gently probing – that run through the girl's mind as she stops and looks around. There is something very relaxing about its pace, even if the flow is sometimes a bit off-kilter. It's easy to be pulled back into the imaginative heart of the book, which is likely to inspire wonderful conversations about the colours your child sees – and the memories and moments that each colour prompts.

Complementing the words, this picture book – written and drawn by acclaimed artist and illustrator Jillian Tamaki – is also, unsurprisingly, beautiful. There are double-page spreads that linger long in the mind – from the black sweep of the girl's hair to the surreal green leaves that bud out of her as she grows like the springtime trees.

One to savour in gentle, quieter moments.