Rainbow Rhymes.

One of about a dozen books from my childhood that I still own and definitely my favorite! The rhymes and illustrations are in rainbow order. Each page has a border of solid color from red to violet. The illustrations are sort of like Eloise Wilkins mixed with Cicely Mary Barker; definitely European in flavor. Sweet and cheerful. This is one of the books that sparked my own creativity as an artist. I'm glad I still have my copy!

I've loved this book since I was a child and now my kids love it too. Granted, you have to have a liking for Virginia Parson's distinctive style of child - her children have a rather elvish wide-eyed look, but if you do, you might like this book. I enjoy the almost vintage 60's folk clothing the dimuitive fairy children dancing throughout the book are wearing, as well as the fine realistic illustrations of birds and other animals which accompany the text. The arrangement of the book is clever - color borders on each page take the child through the rainbow via well-known and obscure folk rhymes. For instance, "red" has the rhyme "Little Robin Redbreast / came to visit me / This is what he whistled: / "Thank you for my tea!" " Gentle literary images, with no earthiness and hidden cruelty found in more traditional rhymes - for example, the rather brutal "Rock a bye baby" is changed nicely to "Rock a bye baby / thy cradle is green." A soothing walk through the rainbow climaxing with two rainbow rhymes and a two-page spread of her children sliding over a rainbow. A great book for your very young children. Such a shame it's out of print.