I Feel Teal

PreS-Gr 2—Ostensibly about matching colors to emotions, this book fares better as a vehicle for honing visual literacy skills and enhancing vocabulary development. Some children may know that certain colors suggest emotions. This book expands on that concept by introducing some lesser-known hues including teal, magenta, ecru, jade, scarlet, lilac, and mauve—and clarifying their meanings with artwork (rendered in ink, watercolor, and gouache, and assembled digitally). For all of the colors, the childlike illustrations of a young girl and her classmates demonstrate how they're feeling. In some instances, readers will understand clearly what emotions the characters represent; in others, facial expressions, body language, and scenes are open to interpretation. Occasionally, some colors are confusingly or questionably rendered, as several shades may appear on the same page but are identified with only one name. The author also states that children are the colors rather than that they feel them—a point not all kids will understand; in the case of colors readers didn't know, this distinction may be lost entirely, especially where the illustrations are unclear.