Picture Books — Review

Violet

by Tania Duprey Stehlik
illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic
Second Story Press, 2009
ISBN 978-1-897187-60-9
$14.95, 24 pp, hardcover
colour illustrations, ages 5 – 8
www.secondstorypress.ca

The main character in this story is not only named Violet, she is a violet colour because her mother is red and her father is blue. The other children at her new school are red or yellow or blue, and have red or yellow or blue parents—she is the only one who is violet. The other children don’t understand why she looks different from her parents, and neither does Violet until her mother shows her that when you mix red and blue you get a new, lovely, purply colour. Your students will sympathize with Violet’s nervousness about starting at a new school, and will be introduced to the idea that although children of mixed heritage may look different from their parents, they should be appreciated for who they are. The whimsical illustrations perfectly match the light touch with which a sensitive topic is explored.

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