Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2018
Caldecott and Printz Honor-winning illustrator Jillian Tamaki brings us a poetic exploration of colour and nature from a young child’s point of view. They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know — she hasn’t seen one.
Stunningly beautiful illustrations flow from one spread to the next, as time passes and the imagination takes hold. The world is full of colour, and mystery too, in this first children's book from a highly acclaimed artist.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2018
Caldecott and Printz Honor-winning illustrator Jillian Tamaki brings us a poetic exploration of colour and nature from a young child’s point of view. They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know — she hasn’t seen one.
Stunningly beautiful illustrations flow from one spread to the next, as time passes and the imagination takes hold. The world is full of colour, and mystery too, in this first children's book from a highly acclaimed artist.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Mar 1, 2018 |
| Specifications | 40 pages | 7 in x 7 in 40 pages | 10 in x 10 in |
| Keywords | wonder; exploration and adventure; first person narration; child as narrator; read aloud; symbolism; metaphors; simile; figurative language; personification; New York Times Notable Children’s Book; NPR Great Reads; School Library Journal Best Books; gift book; watercolor illustrations; |
| Written By |
JILLIAN TAMAKI is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator whose art has appeared in comics, picture books and even storyboards for the popular TV show Adventure Time. She has written and illustrated the picture books Our Little Kitchen, winner of the Eisner Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among other honours, and They Say Blue, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She is a co-creator with her cousin, Mariko Tamaki, of the YA graphic novels This One Summer and Skim. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Illustrated by |
JILLIAN TAMAKI is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator whose art has appeared in comics, picture books and even storyboards for the popular TV show Adventure Time. She has written and illustrated the picture books Our Little Kitchen, winner of the Eisner Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among other honours, and They Say Blue, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She is a co-creator with her cousin, Mariko Tamaki, of the YA graphic novels This One Summer and Skim. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Written By |
|
JILLIAN TAMAKI is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator whose art has appeared in comics, picture books and even storyboards for the popular TV show Adventure Time. She has written and illustrated the picture books Our Little Kitchen, winner of the Eisner Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among other honours, and They Say Blue, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She is a co-creator with her cousin, Mariko Tamaki, of the YA graphic novels This One Summer and Skim. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Illustrated by |
|
JILLIAN TAMAKI is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator whose art has appeared in comics, picture books and even storyboards for the popular TV show Adventure Time. She has written and illustrated the picture books Our Little Kitchen, winner of the Eisner Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among other honours, and They Say Blue, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She is a co-creator with her cousin, Mariko Tamaki, of the YA graphic novels This One Summer and Skim. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Audience | ages 0 to 3 / grades P to K |
| Reading Levels | Lexile AD490L |
Commended, New York Public Library Best Books for Kids, 2018
Commended, New York Times Notable Children’s Books, 2018
Commended, School Library Journal Best Books, 2018
Commended, NPR's Great Reads, 2018
Commended, CBC Books Best Canadian YA and Children’s Literature, 2018
Winner, Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award, 2018
“Attuned to a child’s psychology and patterns of critical thinking, this visually stunning work is a must-purchase for libraries.” — School Library Journal
“Thinking, imagining, noticing — these, Tamaki suggests, are the tools we have to understand our world.” — Publisher's Weekly
“With her first picture book, Jillian Tamaki displays a mastery of the form along with a sensitive understanding of the imaginative life of a small child.” — Quill and Quire
“Readers experience the colors and sensations of the world through the varying moods and observations of one little girl. . . .this is a reminder to slow down, savor the present, notice small details, and relish childlike wonder.” — Kirkus Reviews
“If They Say Blue is ‘about’ anything, it’s a peek into a child’s curious, questing, observant mind as she moves beyond received wisdom — what is it ‘they’ say again? — to thinking and feeling and yearning for herself.” — New York Times
“The illustrations also clearly communicate the wide emotional landscape experienced by young children . . .The language is lyrical and soothingly . . . a wonderful book to use when investigating colour and seasons and the bigger world around us as well as exploring the emergence of critical thinking in children.” — Resource Links