Hello, friends! Our book today is I’m Feeling School Bus Yellow!, written by Tina Gallo and illustrated by Clair Rossiter, a Crayola-themed board book of back-to-school colors.

How do you feel when you go back to school? Do you feel “school bus yellow” while you’re waiting for the bus, bright and excited? Do you feel fun and cheerful, like Blue Violet, when you sit down in your new classroom? Do you feel like energizing Jungle Green as you learn about lizards in the library? What colors do you feel at school?

Disappointing. Despite a very promising premise, this lackluster board book is far more interested in being a marketing tie-in than actually providing any entertainment or education for little bookworms. Only FIVE colors are featured, two of which are simply different shades of yellow, and two of which are, conveniently, proprietary shades of the Crayola company. Every color is described in the most innocuous and bland manner possible, and often in a way that is incongruous with the color in question (Blue Violet does not particularly strike me as “fun, cheerful”). The only bright spot is the artwork, which features anthropomorphized crayons attending and interacting at school, and are charmingly detailed, even featuring a touch of diversity (one crayon uses a wheelchair). Overall, however, this title has little to recommend it – there are a thousand other books about colors, back-to-school, and/or both that leave this colorful ad-campaign-in-disguise rather pale in comparison. A pass from us.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)