Two rainbows is a beautiful book showcasing a clever comparison of colours in the city and in the country. The pages are organised into paired double spreads. Each colour is shown as a spot of bright in an otherwise grey city scene with the alternating page celebrating the same colour in a simple monochromatic farm landscape. For example, yellow is a danger barrier in the grey city, while yellow is ducklings in a sun drenched, wheat field on the farm.
The narrator uses past tense for the farm scenes and present tense for the city, suggesting she has moved from the farm to the city and is fondly remembering the beauty of her country life while also finding small hints of colour in her new city life.
The illustrations are essential to create the mood of the story. The minimalist gentle farm illustrations create a feeling of peace and calm, while the city illustrations are more detailed and create a mood of curious interest for the young reader. Both scenes showcase the positives of each environment, and lead you to realise that one may not appreciate the simple peaceful life of the country until one has experienced the bustle of the city and vice versa.
This book would make a great springboard into colour exploration by inspiring young children to look for and identify colours in their environment. While older children could experiment with tints and shades of colours, creating their own monochromatic artworks.
I found this book to be simply lovely. It is calming, inspiring and just delightful. I will definitely find a useful place for this book in my classroom. I highly recommend it for the school and home environments. Hey there's an idea! Students could make a class book comparing colours in the home to colours at school.
Title: Two Rainbows
Author: Sophie Masson
Illustrator: Michael McMahon
Publisher: Little Hare Books, $24.99
Publication Date: July 2017
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-760127-79-4
For ages: 2-8
Type: Picture Book