Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky
by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
illustrated by Daniel Minter
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Blue
By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond; illustrated by Daniel Minter
Informational Resources:
Author Information:
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond’s website:
https://www.nanabrewhammond.com/
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond featured on NPR’s Picture This series:
Illustrator Information:
An Interview with Daniel Minter for the National Book Festival (10:50):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/hb-asR3ru8U
Activities & Resources:
Activities:
History
Adolf von Baeyer Nobel Prize biography:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1905/baeyer/biographical/
Beaufort History Moment: Indigo Production (1:26):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/sMv0No8zT40
What is the Blues? (2:51):
https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=DXbclfmvSfU
Art Focus - A Brief History of the Colour Blue:
https://www.artsandcollections.com/article/a-history-of-the-colour-blue/
Lapis Lazuli Symbolism:
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/history-legend-lapis-lazuli-gems-yore/
Science
Why is the Sky Blue?
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/blue-sky/en/
Sar-i Sang Lapis Lazuli Mines
https://www.wondermondo.com/sar-i-sang-lapis-lazuli-mines/
How to Make Blue Food Dye Naturally
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Blue-Food-Colouring
Daniel Smith’s The Art of Making Paint (3:11):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kSO00KMKLA8
Crafts
Ocean in a Bottle
https://happyhooligans.ca/ocean-in-bottle/?sf=vnxbrb
MakerSpace Activities:
How to Make Your Own Navy Blue Color Mixing (1:20):
https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=VmQIs2pO0V8
Why is the Sky Blue? Experiment for Kids
https://www.nymetroparents.com/article/science-experiment-why-is-the-sky-blue
Make Your Own Origami Iris Flowers (10:46):
https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=u5Gb131riRM
Make Your Own Ancient Egyptian Collar
https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/ancient-egyptian-collar.html
Make Bookmarks From Old Blue Jeans
https://nofussnatural.com/frugal-family-fun-make-bookmarks-from-old-jeans/
Discussion Questions:
Before reading the story, where do you predict the color blue comes from?
What are things in our everyday life that are blue?
As early as 4500 BC, diggers found blue rocks in mines deep below Afghanistan. Do you think that would be a safe job? Why or why not?
Why was paint made from lapis lazuli so expensive?
Why do you think blue was a color that only members of royal families could wear?
Why did it take so many snails to make a small amount of dye?
Why did people around the world consider the color to be holy?
Where were the world’s centers for making and trading indigo?
Dyers in West Africa and India both made blue from indigo. How were their techniques different?
Besides dye, what did people use indigo to make?
In India and Bangladesh, some planters tricked farmers to grow indigo. How did they do this?
Indigo crops were valuable in the United States but were farmed by enslaved people. How do you think this evil side of the trade affected those doing all the work?
Adolf von Baeyer changed the world with his discovery of how to make blue. Do you think this came easily or like many scientists, do you think he had many failed attempts before he finally mastered it?
Adolf won the Nobel Prize in 1905 for this discovery? Why do you think he was so deserving of it?
With Adolf’s discovery, blue became more affordable and easier for everyone to obtain. Why?
Blue is more than just a color. It’s also a feeling. Why do you think we say that people are feeling “blue” when they’re sad?
What inspired the music style that we now call “The Blues”?
What does it mean when we say something happens “out of the blue”?
Why are blue ribbons pinned for persons who win first prize in a competition?
What do doctors still use indigo for today?
Book Talk Teasers:
Read the reader’s theater for Blue.
Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.
Watch the author's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.
Read Alikes:
Art Careers
Globus, Doro. Making a great exhibition. "How does an artist make a sculpture or a painting? What tools do they use? What happens to the artwork next? This fun, inside look at the life of an artwork shows the journey of two artists' work from studio to exhibition. Stopping along the way we meet colorful characters--curators, photographers, shippers, museum visitors, and more!"--. (NoveList Plus)
Art History
Mack, Jeff. Marcel’s masterpiece: How a toilet shaped the history of art. Paints a kid-friendly portrait of Marcel Duchamp, the artist who changed the way people thought about what art could be, and what could be art, showing how he turned a toilet into a famous work of art. (NoveList Plus)
Turk, Evan. A thousand glass flowers: Marietta Barovier and the invention of the rosetta bead. As a child in fifteenth-century Murano, Italy, Marietta Barovier is drawn to her father's workshop and, although glass blowing is men's work, she later revives the lost art of millefiori. (NoveList Plus)
Color
Schuh, Mari C. Crayola art of color. Shiny gold, bright yellow, soft green, and dark blue—artists use many different colors to create beautiful paintings. What do the colors mean? How do they make you feel? What stories do colors tell? Encourage readers to create their own art and discover the colors in artwork through bright photos and lively text. (NoveList Plus)
White, Dianne. Green on green. With gentle, rhyming text and vivid artwork, this book is a heartfelt celebration of family, nature, seasons, colors, and the wonder and magic of them all. (NoveList Plus)
Reviews:
Brew-Hammond, Nana Ekua. Blue : A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky. Alfred A. Knopf, 2022.
Booklist
Blue : A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky.
By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond (author) Daniel Minter (illustrator)
Alfred A. Knopf, Feb. 2022. 40p. $18.09 (9781984894373) Grades 1-4.
REVIEW: First Published October 15, 2021 (Vol. 118, No. 4) (Booklist)
Brew-Hammond explores the history and culture surrounding blue powders and dyes, a rare and prized commodity until recently. She details how the ancient Egyptians ground lapis lazuli rocks from
Afghanistan to make blue pigment for royals; later, sea snails were used by dyers until the indigo plant became a more practical solution for large quantities; and finally, Adolf von Baeyer created chemical blue, which led to widespread availability of this color. She also touches on some concepts and emotions associated with this hue: feeling blue (sad), blues music, out of the blue (unexpected), royal blue, and blue ribbons (extraordinary). Minter’s acrylic-wash illustrations depict predominantly Black figures, a nod to the key role played by West African dyers in developing these tinctures, and the importance of enslaved Africans whose toil made possible the North American indigo industry. Blue tints appear in every spread, but often as a spotlight color; reds, yellows, and greens do the heavy lifting, allowing the blue tones to stand out. A fascinating look at an underreported topic. —Kay Weisman .
Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/
School Library Journal Xpress starred (April 15, 2022)
Gr 1-4-"The color blue is all around us. Have you ever wondered where it comes from?" Thus begins a global history of blue: where it is found in nature, the meaning people ascribe to it, the ways people have produced it (lapis lazuli, snails, indigo, chemicals), and the feelings it represents, including, but not limited to, "the blues." Gorgeous illustrations done in acrylic wash on watercolor paper showcase every shade found in the sky, water, cloth, jewelry, and in religious uses. The people depicted are from various times and places, including ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Indonesia, Mexico, Israel, and West Africa. Back matter includes an author's note, additional facts, and selected sources. VERDICT This history of a beautiful color with a "complicated history" is valuable on its own, and has potential to be used in English, social studies, and art classes.-Jenny Arch © Copyright 2022. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2022
Additional Reviews Available
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred, 01/01/22
Horn Book Magazine, 01/01/22
Kirkus Reviews starred, 09/15/22
Publishers Weekly starred, 01/10/22