The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faría

I cannot stop gushing to everyone about this book. It’s poetic, original and unlike anything I’ve ever read.

Although Thomas is blind and cannot “see” colors, he senses them in other ways. Colors are touches and tastes and smells. “Brown crunches under his feet like fall leaves. Sometimes it smells like chocolate and other times it stinks.” Water is colorless and therefore has “no taste, no smell.” Black is the “king of all colors” and is “soft as silk.”

The Black Book of Colors is a journey into the blind person’s world. The book is nearly all black and written in both Braille and a white font on black background. Illustrations are raised black lines on black paper and are designed to be touched. They can only be “seen” through the fingers, or if you tilt the page into the light.

The book was first published in Mexico in 2007 and won the New Horizons prize at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2007. It was also a New York Times Book Review choice as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008.