Of Colors and Things
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Page Grabbers stage.
Why it fits Page Grabbers (for young toddlers who treat books as things to do)
Photographic grids of real objects sorted by color. It reads like a Montessori sorting tray in book form. Wordless, so the toddler does the naming - which is the point.
What makes it special
Hoban's photographic grids sort real objects by color like a Montessori tray you can't spill. The wordless format hands the naming job to the child — the book listens rather than lectures. Its quiet, museum-like calm is a small rebellion against the noisy toy aisle.
From the publisher
Photographs of toys, food, and other common objects are grouped on each page according to…
About Tana Hoban
Tana Hoban (1917–2006) was a professional photographer who turned the camera into a teaching tool for the very young — her wordless concept books about shapes, colors, and looking itself are used in classrooms worldwide.
A successful commercial photographer in Philadelphia, she shifted to children's books in her fifties, convinced that real photographs — not drawings — best honored how seriously young children observe the world.
Also by this author: Black on White · Of Colors and Things · Shapes, Shapes, Shapes
More from “Point and Name”
This book is part of The Best Books for Toddlers: 30 Teacher Picks (Page Grabbers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.