27 January 2010

Color Me Impressed

A friend recently pointed me to this NPR link on colors and this amazing graphic showing how our choices of crayon colors has increased exponentially in the last century:



Crayola options from 1903 to 2010. (Courtesy of Stephen Von Worley)


With these technological advances in color identification now enabling us to break down the spectrum of possible colors down to such discrete variations, I think it's time the children's book community caught up and utilized Crayola's full compliment of colors. So look for new editions of your favorite childhood classics to be released in the near future. Now you and your children will be able to fully enjoy revitalized classics such as:

Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Big Foot Feet and Clement Hurd)

and my new personal favorite:



The Bittersweet Shimmer Balloon (A. LaMorisse)

By taking advantage of our technicolor age, your reading experience is no longer confined to the clumsy brushstrokes of an antiquated rainbow... finally, you can enjoy the surreal beauty of the full color spectrum and all its bizarre glory!

Now where did I put my copy of Fuzzy Gargoyle Gas Ducklings?

6 comments:

Maureen Hume said...

I don't know much about cayons and color but the cover of 'The Bittersweet Shimmer Balloon' has me entranced.
Maureen. www.thepizzagang.com

Charlotte said...

Thank you! I just spend some happy minutes at wikipedia, reading the crayon colors and wondering at the stories behind them...

I do not ever think I want the shampoo crayon.

Effie said...

I love the colors in Eric Carles books. Check out all the shades of green in the Hungry Caterpillar!

http://www.amazon.com/Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-board-book/dp/0399247459/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1264701995&sr=1-1-spell

Minh said...

1) I was always scared of the red balloon growing up... but the Bittersweet Shimmer Balloon... if i were emotionally complex enough to feel melancholy at that age, that's probably what i could have felt. And is it just me or does Bittersweet Shimmer Balloon sound perfectly French?

2) I actually shampoo with a crayon right now to get to all the hard to reach places.

3) Effie, don't you mean "check out all the shades of alien armpit?"

Kristi(e) said...

Alien Armpit is precisely the right shade of "green" for Dr. Seuss! Good looking out.

After heading over to Wikipedia to ensure that Alien Armpit is a for-real color name I wonder what exactly a Dingy Dungeon smells like--not to mention Sasquatch Socks. How has Crayola managed to catch and extract sock scents for one of the most elusive "mythological" creatures of all time?!

Minh said...

Kristi(e), not many people know this, but the much of the X-files is really based on the secret research arm of Crayola.

oops.... i've said too much. now that you know, trust no one.