Description
Originally created on the spur of the moment to amuse two children restless from a long train ride, Little Blue and Little Yellow is the book that began Leo Lionni's long, impressive career as a creator of children's books — four of which have been named Caldecott Honor Books. Unlike the animal fables for which he is best-known, this innovative picture book features scraps of colored paper that Lionni brings to life as characters: Little Blue, who lives with his blue parents, and Little Yellow, who lives with his yellow parents. The two children have friends of many colors, and together they play and go to school on backgrounds of different shades. Then one day, Little Blue can't find Little Yellow. He looks everywhere, and when the two finally meet, they are so happy to see each other that they hug and hug — until they become green! They return home to find that their parents don't recognize them. The distressed little scraps begin to cry, and separate into piles of blue and yellow tears. The relieved parents soon understand what happened, and everything ends happily.
Useful both as an introduction to color blending and as a story of friendship and acceptance, this unique storybook is as refreshing today as when it was first published in 1959. Encourage students to tell their own color stories using scraps of paper or paint.
Leo Lionni gained international renown for his paintings, graphic designs, illustrations, and sculpture, as well as for his books for children. He was born in Holland in 1910 of Dutch parents, and although his education did not include formal art courses (in fact, he had a doctorate in economics from the University of Genoa), he spent much of his free time as a child in Amsterdam's museums, teaching himself to draw.
Lionni's business training gradually receded into the background as his interest in art and design grew. Having settled in Milan soon after his marriage in 1931, he started off by writing about European architecture for a local magazine. It was there that he met the contacts who were to give him a start as a professional graphic designer. When he moved to America in 1939, Lionni was hired by a Philadelphia advertising agency as art director. Later he became design director for the Olivetti Corporation of America, and then art director for Fortune magazine. At the same time, his reputation as an artist flourished as he began to exhibit his paintings and drawings in galleries from New York to Japan.
Lionni launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959. Originally developed from a story he had improvised for his grandchildren during a dull train ride, Little Blue and Little Yellow was the first of what is now a long list of children's picture books. Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.