RED
When I first started writing children's books, many years ago now, I was interested in the idea of using colour to create certain emotions and responses. There's a whole psychology involved and it's fascinating.
RED is an interesting one. It attracts attention and is often used to depict danger, anger or excitement so should be used sparingly unless that's the emotion you want to evoke, but conversely, this colour can be used to convey love and warmth.
Here are some examples of authors using the colour red to add energy and emotion to children's books.
Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall is a funny colourful story about being true to yourself. Here red is used emotionally and symbolically.
The classic story of Little Red Riding Hood is well known. Why does her grandmother have such big teeth? Red is used to signal danger here. This version by Mandy Ross uses funny rhythm and rhyme to engage children in this ageless fairy tale.
Dr Seuss famously uses the red and white striped hat (and red bow tie) on the mischievous cat. This isn't just for show - the red signals chaos and energy. It deliberately disrupts the calm.
A picture book to tell children that bad feelings won't last forever. A young child wakes to find black leaves falling from her bedroom ceiling. She negotiates a world where all seems lost but when she returns to her room she finds that a tiny red seed has grown to fill her room with warm light.
Here Shaun Tan uses the colour red in a different way - to depict love.
Colours in children's books are not only decorative and in picture books can influence how young children experience a story.
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