Before Colors: Where Pigments and Dyes Come From

Why does the blue morpho butterfly appear to be such a brilliant shade? Why did Van Gogh love yellow so much? This encyclopedic text delves into an entire spectrum of questions surrounding how people create, see, and think about color. Sections ingeniously organized around different hues detail how interpretation of color is a product of perception, language, and culture, and introduce readers to “colorful characters” themed to the respective shades—along with Van Gogh, there’s Oaxacan weaver Juana Gutiérrez Contreras, who created natural dyes based on ancestral Zapotec traditions, and the Switzer brothers, who invented safety orange. Bay Pimentel’s conversational prose and Safer’s dramatic watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations make for vivid information grazing. Ages 8–12. (June)