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Hailstones and Halibut Bones

mary o/neill leonard weisgard

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Hailstones And Halibut Bones, Mary O'Neill's renowned 1961 work of poetry about the colors of the spectrum, has become a modern children's classic. Leonard Weisgard's lovely illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to the poems.

59 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1961

This edition

Format
59 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 1, 1961 by Doubleday \u0026 Co., Inc, Garden City
ISBN
9780385079112
ASIN
0385079117
Language
English

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About the author

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mary o/neill

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
Raquenheim
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is our second time to read through this poetry book, and we enjoy it more each time. Each poem is about a specific color, ("What is White?) then describes the color in the most beautiful way, including imagery, feelings, smells. It's a wonderful little book and we look forward to poetry time every day in our homeschool!
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Qz_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Title: Hailstones and Hailbut Bones
Author: Mary O'Neill
Illustrator: John Wallner
Originally Published: 1961
Interest Level: 4-6, Grades 1 and Up

Summary: Award-winner Wallner has illustrated this full-color edition of O'Neill's classic poetry book. With a compelling sense of rhythm and with images that are clear and fresh, O'Neill explores the spectrum in 12 poems and 12 different colors. Wallner has created montages of each poem's images and colored them with various hues of the featured color. The results do complement the moods of the poems, but one must wonder why, in a set of poems celebrating color, all but three of the people shown are white. Poems such as "What is Brown?"--"Brown is as comfortable/ As love"--could create responses like Arnold Adoff's Black is Brown is Tan.

My Take: Using something as simple as one color, my students could find the value in such a task. Just one color can evoke so many images and allow young writers an outlet. The watercolor illustrations match the words so well. There are hints of rhyme throughout each poem and the book. Every other line rhymes, a technique that can be taught.
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geishaguns
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I picked up this book for Leonard Weisgard's illustrations, black and white and whatever color of the poem's subject, from purple to yellow. O'Neill sometimes reaches for a rhyme but at her best she is profound.
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zeralul
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I read this every Friday, one poem at a time, for our color study. This version has removed the offensive "red as an Indian," so it does not require any editing. Recommended - be sure to get this version.
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bovinefury
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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It's difficult to write rhyming poetry that isn't contrived or trite. Mary O'Neill succeeds in writing simple yet vivid poetry with rhymes that don't get in the way of the images she's trying to create.

Yellow blinks
On summer nights
In the off-and-on of
Firefly lights.
Yellow's a topaz
A candle flame.
Felicity's a
Yellow name.
Yellow's mimosa
And I guess,
Yellow's the color of
Happiness.

Unfortunately, some of the material is dated.
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Spergann
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Beautiful in both poetry and illustrations!

On page 28, when talking about the color blue, I thought it was interesting that blue could be either cold or hot (like welding torch flame). I liked some of the the other things she said about black, gray, and red.

When I was little, I used to say that red was my favorite color, but I also like blue with it. And now I can’t really decide! There’s not a color I don’t like.
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