Cheryl Ann Knights (text) and Leigh Hedstrom (illustrator), Fiona Fairybread and the Colour Red, Little Steps, 2018, 32 pp., RRP $14.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780648267331
This paperback part of a series intended to introduce very young children to the concept of colour, the first book focusing on yellow. Everything that Fiona Fairybread owns – from her clothes to her car, not to mention her hair and her lipstick – is bright red. She eats red fruit and vegetables and grows red flowers. This is all recounted in often strained rhyming couplets when a straightforward prose may have been easier on the ear.
Red obviously features strongly in the illustrations but Leigh Hedstrom has introduced some complementary colours as effective relief. Suitable for ages 3-6.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Douglas