THE BIG POP

Colorful balloons interact and eventually create a rainbow in the sky in this picture book.

When a lonely red balloon floats away in search of “another balloon to talk and play with,” he is thrilled when he encounters a yellow one. After they pass each other, Red and Yellow are shocked when an orange balloon materializes. Soon, “twin Blue Balloons” appear as well. The primary-colored balloons notice that when certain pairings occur, new figures turn up. For example, “Yellow and Blue had danced together and made a Green Balloon.” The balloons joyfully dance with one another until suddenly a loud noise occurs: “POP! All the balloons exploded!” Now, fragments of color sprinkle the sky. The text explains that this blast resulted in a “beautiful…Rainbow” and that if “someday, if you should see a rainbow in the sky—maybe it was made by some lonely Balloons dancing and playing together!” Miller’s descriptive but straightforward story familiarizes readers with color mixing in an imaginative and approachable manner. Through visual representations of primary and secondary color examples, youngsters will glean basics such as “Red and Yellow making Orange/Yellow and Blue making Green/Blue and Red making Purple.” The author’s full-page illustrations feature bright orange backdrops with line-drawn elements like simple trees. The saturated balloons have simple and friendly facial expressions. Some scenes feature watercolor details like splotches of blue clouds, the sun, and a lovely, soft rainbow arch at the end.

An inventive, kid-friendly introduction to color mixing.