Hello, Red Fox - Softcover

Carle, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0439160251 ISBN 13: 9780439160254

Publisher: Scholastic, 1999

Synopsis

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Mama Frog gets a big surprise when the guests arrive for Little Frog's birthday party: Red Fox looks green to her! Orange Cat looks blue! What has gone wrong?

About this title

Review

Goethe (1749-1832) is celebrated as a great German poet, novelist, and philosopher. But in his eyes, color theory was his most significant achievement. In 1810 Goethe published Farbenlehre, naming three primary colors--red, blue, and yellow--from which all other colors could be made, and claiming that each color had an opposite, or complementary, color. But how does this relate to well-loved artist Eric Carle's Hello, Red Fox? Well, it's like this. On his special birthday, Little Frog's friends--Red Fox, Purple Butterfly, Orange Cat, and others--begin to arrive at his house for a party. Imagine Mama Frog's surprise when she perceives Red Fox as green, Purple Butterfly as yellow, and so on. Each time, Little Frog gently points out that she simply hasn't stared at each animal long enough to see his or her "true color."

At the beginning of the book, readers are instructed to stare for ten seconds at the boldly colored animal on the left side of the spread, then transfer their unblinking gaze (more like glaze at this point) to the blank white page on the right. If they do that successfully, a shadowy image of the animal appears in its complementary color! Young kids may think this is magic, but actually the phenomenon taking place between the eye and the brain is called "simultaneous contrast after-image." No matter what you call it, it's amazing and fun to behold! The story itself is simple and deliberately repetitive, appealing to very young children, but the optical illusions will be a hit with all ages. Carle's bold collage illustrations are perfect for this playful spin around the color wheel, which ends with the green Little Frog turning red when Mama Frog kisses him in front of all of his friends. (Ages 4 to 8). Karin Snelson

About the Author

Eric Carle is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of more than seventy books for very young children including his most well-known title The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Born in Syracuse, New York, Eric Carle moved to Germany with his parents when he was six years old. He studied at the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart before returning to the United States, where he worked as a graphic designer for The New York Times and later as art director for an international advertising agency. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, now considered a modern classic, has sold more than 41 million copies and has been translated into sixty-two languages. With his late wife, Barbara, Eric Carle cofounded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts in 2002. Eric Carle divides his time between the Florida Keys and the hills of North Carolina.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439160251
• ISBN 13: 9780439160254
• Binding: Paperback