When I Colored in the World - Hardcover

Ahmadi, Ahmadreza

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1910328499 ISBN 13: 9781910328491

Publisher: Tiny Owl Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

Told with poetic simplicity, this book shows how creative imagination – through the use of color and imagery – can change the world from bad to good. With a box of colored crayons and an eraser to rub things out, one child sets out to transform the world. By rubbing out ‘hunger’ and coloring in ‘wheat’, the world can be fed. By rubbing out ‘crying’ and coloring ‘laughter’, the world gets to sing, dance and be joyful. An unusual and deceptively simple picture book that imagines a world without discrimination, poverty or inequality.

About this title

About the Authors

Ahmadreza Ahmadi is one of the greatest Iranian contemporary poets. He has written numerous children’s stories, some of which have won major literary awards in Iran. In 2010 he was among the five shortlisted nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen award. His books for Tiny Owl also includes Alive Again (2015).

Ehsan Abdollahi is an illustrator and animator from Iran. He teaches at Tehran Art University. Ehsan is inspired by the environment and fabrics of South Iran (where he was born), and uses bold colours and rich patterns in his illustrations. Ehsan has illustrated A Bottle of Happiness (2016) and Thinker: My Puppy Poet and Me (2018) by the acclaimed African-American poet Eloise Greenfield.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

My mom gave me a box of crayons for coloring, and an eraser to rub things out with. So guess what I did? Desert. I rubbed out the word desert. I wrote the word roses. Roses. Red With my red crayon I made roses grow all over the world! I gave the world red. Darkness. I rubbed out the word darkness. I wrote the word light with my yellow crayon. Light. Yellow. With my yellow crayon I made lights come on all over the world! I gave the world yellow. Boredom. I rubbed out the word boredom. I got my blue crayon and I wrote playing. Playing. Sky blue. All over the world people played. I gave the world sky blue. Drought. I rubbed out that word drought. I wrote rain with my silver crayon. Rain. Silver. I made it rain all over the world, and everyone had to put up umbrellas! I gave the world silver. Hunger. I rubbed out that word hunger. I wrote wheat with my green crayon. Green. Wheat I made wheat grow in fields all over the world. I gave the world green. War. I rubbed out that word war. I got my sky blue crayon and I wrote peace with it. Light blue. Peace All over the world news came from radios saying that all the wars had stopped. After that news, the radios played such lovely music that flowers bloomed in empty vases. I gave light blue to the world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tiny Owl Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1910328499
• ISBN 13: 9781910328491
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Abdollahi Eshan
• Number of pages: 32