The Story of Colour tells the story of how we have come to view the world through lenses passed down to us by art, science, politics, fashion and sport, and, not least, prejudice.

The imfamous children's book where el subcommandante Marcos learns how the world blossomed with colors.

A positive and affirming look at skin color, from an artist's perspective. Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades. Through the eyes of a little girl who begins to see her familiar world in a new way, this book celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people. Karen Katz created The Colors of Us for her daughter, Lena, whom she and her husband adopted from Guatemala six years ago.

Bestselling author Mary Hoffman is renowned for writing about social issues for children. This big book edition for use in schools tackles a highly topical and controversial subject in a sensitive, non-patronizing and interesting way. It also contains vivid artwork by up-and-coming illustrator Karin Littlewood.Ages 5-9

The History of Colour explores the rich history of human's relationship with colour, from ancient times to today.

This comprehensive, beautiful book delves deep into the complex but fascinating story of our relationship with colour throughout human history. Color is fundamental to our experience and understanding of the world. It crosses continents and cultures, disciplines and decades. It is used to convey information and knowledge, to evoke mood, and to inspire emotion. This book explores the history of our understanding of color, from the ancient world to the present, from Aristotle to Albers. Interspersed in the historical story are numerous thematic essays that look at how color has been used across a wide range of disciplines and fields: in food, music, language and many others. The illustrations are drawn from the Royal College of Art’s renowned Colour Reference Library which spans six centuries of works and nearly 2,000 titles, from a Gothic manuscript on the composition of the rainbow to hand-painted Enlightenment works on color theory and vibrant 20th-century color charts, including many fascinating examples not seen in other books. Delving far and wide in this fascinating and varied subject, this book will help readers find new layers of meaning and complexity in their everyday experiences and teach them to look closer at our colorful lives.

From prehistory to the present day, colours have shaped our world in more ways than you might expect. In The Stories and Secrets of Colour, young readers can explore the many meanings behind and uses for colour all over the world, from the Tuareg people of North Africa and their striking blue clothes, to why saffron is so expensive and what makes flamingos pink. Through colour, we discover amazing facts about animals and plants, learn how colours have changed the course of history and find out how different colours affect our moods and health. Vivid, imaginative full-spread illustrations from artist Sirjana Kaur are a joyful celebration of colour and award-winning Susie Brook's text reveals how colour is infused into every part of our lives.

As a color, black comes in no other shades: it is a single hue with no variation, one half of a dichotomy. But what it symbolizes envelops the entire spectrum of meaning—good and bad. The Story of Black travels back to the biblical and classical eras to explore the ambiguous relationship the world’s cultures have had with this sometimes accursed color, examining how black has been used as a tool and a metaphor in a plethora of startling ways. John Harvey delves into the color’s problematic association with race, observing how white Europeans exploited the negative associations people had with the color to enslave millions of black Africans. He then looks at the many figurative meanings of black—for instance, the Greek word melancholia, or black bile, which defines our dark moods, and the ancient Egyptians’ use of black as the color of death, which led to it becoming the standard hue for funereal garb and the clothing of priests, churches, and cults. Considering the innate austerity and gravity of black, Harvey reveals how it also became the color of choice for the robes of merchants, lawyers, and monarchs before gaining popularity with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century dandies and with Goths and other subcultures today. Finally, he looks at how artists and designers have applied the color to their work, from the earliest cave paintings to Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Rothko. Asking how a single color can at once embody death, evil, and glamour, The Story of Black unearths the secret behind black’s continuing power to compel and divide us.