A great book for introducing students to poetry. This is a sensory book in that the author uses words that make the reader not only visualize what their reading but also smell, feel, hear, etc. The author makes each poem of each color come alive by telling of things that remind the author of the color. The water color illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to the text.

"Like acrobats on a high trapeze
The colors pose and bend their knees
Twist and turn and leap and blend
Into shapes and feelings without end...."

I enjoyed reading through this book with my children; a book of very colorful poems.

Beautiful verses creating lovely images in a single hue. This is a wonderful going to bed book for my son, it's extremely soothing. Unfortunately it puts my mom to sleep faster than it does him, so she can't use it. I however can read it over and over.

The title poem:

What is White?
White is a Dove
And lily of the valley
And a puddle of milk
Spilled in an alley---
A ship's sail
A kite's tail
A wedding veil
Hailstones and
Halibut bones
And some people's
Telephones.
The hottest and most blinding light
Is white.
And breath is white
When you blow it out on a frosty night.
White is the shining absence of all color
Then absence is white
Out of touch
Out of sight.

White is marshmallow
And vanilla ice cream
And the part you can't remember
In a dream.
White is the sound
Of a light foot walking
White is a pair of
Whispers talking.
White is the beautiful
Broken lace
Of snowflakes falling
On your face.
You can smell white
In a country room
Toward the end of May
In the cherry bloom.


My favorite poem is Black. You'll have to get the book to read it!

My mom had a copy of this book when I was growing up, so when I saw it at DI, I had to buy it. Not only is it nostalgic for me, but this collection of poetry about colors is fun. We (my kids and I) thoroughly enjoyed reading it. We discussed many of the adjectives in the poetry. Great English lesson!

Fun little poems, easy to discuss with the kids. Nothing life changing.

Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill , 1961. Although this poem book may be a little outdated, it is authentic poetry. Because this poem book was published in 1961, I probably would not use this in a classroom.. (there are some racist aspects which I do not agree with). I actually would say that the poetry isn't even that great, but it definitely would get a child to think. #classic

Delightful poems and illustrations about the wonders of color.

I remember introduced to this book in Kindergarten in choir. We did a performance singing about different colors (for example we sang "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles for Yellow and "Red Rubber Ball" by Simon and Garfunkle) Before each song one of us read a poem from this book.

I love how the poems explore colors on so many different levels.

This is an excellent book, and I love the color poems. They are well written and they rhyme, too. I also thought is was funny to read the introduction in the book and see that publishing Hailstones and Halibut Bones was almost a mistake. The author was due with some work that was not yet ready. So her publisher came over to her house and took a look around in hope of finding SOMETHING she could use. That's when her publisher found a bunch of poems all stuffed in a desk drawer that the author, Mary O'Neill, had written and collected over the years and that is how this book came to be.

I like that the author introduces her book by letting readers know this is a collection of her personal feelings, impressions and ideas about colors. A book like this can inspire young readers and writers to appreciate the power of their own imaginations. My aunt, a poet herself, gave me this book with the following personal note written inside the cover: A gift of color For your darkest night Or your coldest day or just to make a fine day brighter. This special book uses words to paint pictures and celebrate our colorful world. It uses words to build up, not tear apart. I feel thankful for books like these for they do make the day brighter.

Poetry. My first book. My sister got this when I was born, it's in my top 5 list. But this isn't the cover of mine

I’ve loved this book since I was a kid and it’s still such a great book, for anyone of any age!