The Colours of Nature

By Catherine Barr & Chaaya Prabhat

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Our natural world provides many examples of gorgeous, stunning animals and plants that fascinate young readers. A book that celebrates the beauty and diversity around us is a perfect way to engage and inform young readers. The Colours of Nature is a glorious exploration of our colourful world.

I like the introductory spread which explains briefly how colour works and why it is useful. Colour helps creatures communicate, find mates, scare off predators, find tasty food, avoid poisonous food and hide and survive. We visit all the colours of the rainbow starting with white and ending with black. Each spread has careful illustrations of animals and plants with an explanatory paragraph below. There are some surprises! The blue whale is featured in the yellow section because`some have a yellow belly caused by yellow algae that sticks to its skin.

The text explains how animals and plants use colour: animals glitter to impress, shimmer to send signals or sparkle to scare predators, some living things even make their own light, called bioluminescence. For many living things in nature the secret to survival can be found in just the right shade.

The Colours of Nature with its vibrant exhuberant use of colour throughout and its thoughtful informative text  will be a welcome addition to the school or home library.

Bloomsbury 2025

Catherine Barr

Chaaya Prabhat