The World of Touch.This extraordinary children's book is a true work of art, a kind of meeting ground for the vision impaired and sighted children alike. Author Menena Cottin and artist Rosanna Faria, both from Venezuela, collaborated on the creation of this new approach to learning. The Black Book of Colors truly is black, every page! With embossed art and Braille text, black on black, the book defines colors without using visual aids. No easy task, try it sometime. Yellow taste like mustard and red is as sweet as watermelon. The vast majority of children are fully sighted but how then can they appreciate the difficulties faced by a child who is not so lucky. This book will give them a glimpse into that world. To that end each page has the Braille text duplicated in English, in white letters. The story line is simple, just a series of interconnected phrases that illustrates the world of color that surrounds us. Speaking from a sighted persons point of view I can only asses how sighted people might react to the book. I don't know what the authors original intent was but it seemed to me that they meant it as a way for sighted children and blind children to share a common experience and learn something about one another. In reading other reviews I saw a common theme: it's a good book but the Braille embossing was not raised enough to be any good to a blind person. I suspect this is a result of the printing process and mass shipping. The original Mexico edition probably did not have this problem as the authors would have had some say so as to the quality and look of the finished product. The basic idea behind this book is excellent and US publishing companies will have to take extra care when printing and shipping future editions of this book or any other similar works. As it stands now The Black Book of Colors is a wonderful learning tool for sighted children to better understand how a blind child might be able to read and to understand the difficult concept of colors. I hope this starts a trend in the American publishing industry to put a little extra care and effort when releasing books of this nature to the buying public. The end goal should be to bring us all together, through reading, whether it's by sight or by touch.Last Ranger When people ask the question, how to you describe a color to a blind person, the answer is finally here. This amazing book allows readers to use all the other senses except for sight to try and imagine what the colors would look like. This book is a great way to teach children what it is like to be blind as well as how difficult it can be trying to describe colors to someone who has never seen them before. Not only does it describe the colors though, it also depicts where the colors are in the real world. One example of this is when the book talks about the color red. The book depicts red as being sour like an unripened fruit but at the same time it can be sweet. It also goes on to say that the color red can hurt when you scrap your knee or elbow. It is describing where we see the color as well as how it may takes or feel. All in all, this is a wonderful book that allows students to broaden their minds about the world. I would recommend this book for all ages. It allows not only younger readers to get a feel of what it would be like to be blind, but it also allows older students to have the same sensation.
What do You think about O Livro Negro Das Cores (2010)?
Amazing, helps you to "see" the world in a new way.
—kat
Such a great way to teach kids about Braille!
—lauraezzat
