Hello, friends! Our book today is Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color by Julia Denos, the story of a color whisperer learning a lesson about the importance of freedom.

Swatch is a little girl who loves colors, and the colors love her right back. They bend and twist and dance around her, and she wrangles them with her sweet demeanor and wild energy. She hunts the most vivid shades when she can: Bravest Green only appears in the first week of March, and In-Between Gray resides on her kitten’s leg. The colors come and go freely, until Swatch decides to capture Just-Laid Blue in a jar. She begins to collect all her colors in jars, and while they still love Swatch, they begin to grow restless without room to roam and dance as they once did. At last, Swatch hunts down Yellowest Yellow, the first color to ask what she intends on doing. When Swatch describes life in a jar, Yellow politely declines – that’s no life for it. Swatch understands, and watches as Yellow grows and twists into a giant, magical beast and Swatch, realizing her mistake, calls to her colors to free themselves from their jars and fly free once again.

Charming and magical. Swatch and her colors explode from each page with bright, joyous energy, creating a modern fairytale world that feels like a window into a child’s imagination. And while the art pulls plenty of focus, the text holds its own with a sure, whimsical yet exhilarating storyline. And the lesson is timeless: to love something is to let it be free to be itself. JJ went wild for the art, and the length was just right. A lovely fable for any fan of color, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!