Pinkalicious is back, but this time she faulters on her love
for pink when all the girls at school rudely inform her that pink is no longer 'cool', and that black is the new 'in' color. Pinkalicious is teased every day for a
week, until her strength waivers and she becomes ashamed of liking pink so
much. But, pretending to think differently than she really does gives
Pinkalicious the blues. Like the first book about our pink character, she
narrates her tale in first person, providing an inside understanding of her
feelings. The illustrations are mixed media images combined and colored on a computer.
If you look close, the houses in the background are made of writing paper,
the alphabet letters of graph paper. Many other images throughout the
story are borrowed from photographs, prints, and fabrics. The funky
illustrations are interesting to study and discover the little eccentricities
of each page.
Although the book is named for her, Purplicious doesn't
appear until the final few pages. However, the lesson she teaches Pinkalicious
is strong and will be what most kids will take away from the book.
When Purplicious hears Pinkalicious say 'pink is for babies,' she sets
Pinkalious straight by declaring "Pink is powerful." By mixing pink paint into blue paint, a beautiful lilac
purple is created. Pinkalicious loves the new purple color almost as much as
she loves pink, but more importantly, she realizes it doesn't matter what others
think. She can like whatever color she wants to - just like Purplicious does.
Especially as your child nears school-age, it will help them to see a
strong character, as well as one who waivers but finally finds herself and
doesn't let others determine her happiness.
My five year-old niece, Emily, is a huge Pinkalicious fan, and
is actually the one who first showed me Purplicious. "Auntie, I've already looked
at all the pictures, but will you please read this to me?" She was so excited!
We read it through twice, and Emily finally asked if mixing pink and blue
paint really makes purple. We ended up playing around with her watercolor
paints and making lots of different color combinations. It opened up a whole
new world for her, and she was on a watercolor painting spree for a few days!
--Audra
