Red is a Dragon: A Book of Colors

Red is a Dragon: A Book of Colors

Written By: Roseanne Thong

Illustrated By: Grace Lin

Chronicle Books LLC, 2001

30 Pages

Poetry Book 

     I picked this book, because I thought it would be a great book to teach colors.  The book is written in a narrative poetry format.  It also rhymes.  It tells a story of a girl and the colors she sees in her daily life.  The girl lives in Japan; therefore, the events and experiences she is telling us about include parts of her culture.  The book begins with the color red.  In this part, the girl is describing a parade she is watching that has a dragon in it; the dragon is red.  The girl also talks about the color orange when she goes to the beach.  She also talks about the color yellow when she lights a candle.  She describes the color green when her aunt gives her a purse. The girl also talks about the colors green and blue when she is outside.  She sees the color pink when she is at the opera.  And last, the girl notices that her food is the color white. 

     The artist did the paintings in this book in gauche.  The colors are very vibrant.  The pictures make the book easy to understand.  Every illustration includes a picture of the girl and what she is doing.  The artist does a great job depicting the girl’s culture and family in her pictures.  It is very easy to tell what the girl is describing in each scene.  The pictures are also very large and emphasize the meaning of the colors in the poems. 

     This would be a great book to use to teach colors.  I could have an activity where students name the different colors in their classroom.  I could also teach my students how to write color poems.  The book would go along well with an introductory lesson in poetry.  I could have my students write their own color poem about the colors they notice every day or about their favorite color.  The book could also be used to teach a lesson about Asian culture and the traditions that they have.  The students could also compare what colors represent in their daily lives to what they mean in the girl’s.  I could also do a lesson on rhyming with this book.  I think this book is most appropriate for kindergarten through second grade.