Clean, crisp illustrations explicate the laws of color in the latest of a series of art books for young readers by Gonyea (A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Good
). Gonyea lays out basic color information—primary and secondary colors, their connotations, how they work together, and so on—with simple, accessible statements and corresponding visual representations (“Blue and red make purple” appears in white against a solid purple backdrop opposite horizontal red and blue stripes; “Warm colors rise to the front” is demonstrated by a stylized red rocket flying across a sky of blue). Older readers will appreciate the book's second half, which presents more complex ideas. The tone loosens up, too: “Saturation is the amount of color in... well... color;” “Darker values have more black and can make things seem creepy and menacing.” It is in essence a handbook, the illustrations more like diagrams than images to savor. Young artists (and that might include young designers of Web pages and video games) will learn new things, and may recognize the truth of perceptions they already had. Ages 9–up. (Apr.)
