1. Animals
2. Art techniques
3. Colours
4. Cultural diversity
5. Literacy
6. Literary techniques
7. Visual literacy

Using a rainbow of colours, this simple but elegant book delights from the first page. Each colour is introduced with the same simple phrase ‘If I was’ then a colour and a wonderfully imaginative and poetic vision of the colour via both the text and the luscious illustrations such as ‘If I was yellow I’d be as soft as the silky sands’. As the book explores the colours of the rainbow and some of the animals and parts of nature that share those colours, readers are drawn in by the poetry and the illustrations to imagine other ways to describe the colours.

Ezekiel Kwaymullina’s musical text conjures captivating visions and these are brought to life by the warmth and patterns in the print-like illustrations by Moira Court

‘Colour Me’ is a delightful way to introduce one aspect of the diversity of the world we live in to young children. It is a book that could be used in a multitude of ways, teaching, and developing language by describing the colours in a lyrical manner, drawing the colours using perhaps a similar style as the illustrator, Moira Court, or talking about the different colours in the world around us and the importance of understanding and accepting that ‘We are all different, But together we colour our world amazing’.

Ezekiel Kwaymullina is from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. He is a full-time writer and has written a number of books sometimes in collaboration with his mother, author Sally Morgan or other members of his family. Illustrator Moira Court grew up in the West Country, England. She now lives in the Perth Hills. Her artwork is predominantly printmaking and is inspired by nature, conservation, folklore and folk art.

1. Fremantle Press Teaching Notes. ‘Colour Me’ by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Moira Court https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/system/spree/files/attachments/000/002/770/original/COLOUR_ME_teaching_notes.pdf?1493282284
2. Kids’ Book Review August 3, 2017 Review by Shaye Wardrop of ‘Colour Me’ by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Moira Court http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2017/08/review-colour-me.html
3. Kids’ Book Review June 17, 2014 “Susan Whelan asks Ezekiel Kwaymullina 12 Curly Questions’ http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2010/03/interview-illustrator-moira-court.html
4. Kids’ Book Review March 19, 2010 ’Tania McCartney interviews Illustrator Moira Court’ http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2010/03/interview-illustrator-moira-court.html
5. Speech Buddies ’10 Ways to Teach a Child Colours’ https://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/speech-therapy-techniques/10-ways-to-teach-a-child-colors/
6. Learning4Kids ‘List of Colour Activities” https://www.learning4kids.net/play-ideas/creative-activities/exploring-colours/
7. Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. How to Teach a Toddler Colours with 20+ Fun Activities. https://teaching2and3yearolds.com/how-to-teach-toddler-colors/
8. Writers Write ‘204 Words that Describe Colours’ https://www.writerswrite.co.za/204-words-that-describe-colours/