📖 Overview
The Black Book of Colors is a children's picture book printed entirely in black with embossed illustrations that can be felt with the fingers. The text appears in both black ink and white Braille, making it readable by both sighted and visually impaired readers.
The book presents descriptions of colors through non-visual senses - tastes, sounds, smells, and textures. Each page contains raised line drawings that correspond to the sensory descriptions in the text.
This unique format creates an experience that helps sighted readers understand how blind people perceive the world. The book serves as a bridge between visual and non-visual ways of understanding color and beauty.
👀 Reviews
Readers appreciate how this book helps sighted people experience colors through a blind person's perspective using black-on-black raised illustrations and braille. Parents and teachers report it creates meaningful discussions about perception and disability awareness.
What readers liked:
- Tactile experience makes colors tangible
- Simple but impactful text
- Unique approach to teaching empathy
- Works well for both sighted and visually impaired readers
What readers disliked:
- High price point for short length
- Braille text is embossed rather than true braille
- Some found the black pages hard to read
- Limited replay value after initial experience
Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.2/5 (2,100+ ratings)
Amazon: 4.6/5 (240+ ratings)
Notable review: "This book accomplishes something remarkable - it makes you understand how a blind person experiences color through other senses. My students were fascinated." - Elementary teacher on Amazon
Several librarians note it's popular for disability awareness programs but expensive for individual purchase.
📚 Similar books
All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka
A poetic exploration of human skin colors through nature-based metaphors combines with textured illustrations.
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni A chameleon's search for identity introduces color concepts through die-cut pages and layered artwork.
What Color Is Night? by Grant Snider Dark blues transform into unexpected colors as night reveals its hidden spectrum through raised-line illustrations.
The Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao A blind girl creates mental images of the world through touch and sound during her subway journey.
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young Seven mice investigate different parts of an elephant, building a tactile understanding through collective discovery.
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni A chameleon's search for identity introduces color concepts through die-cut pages and layered artwork.
What Color Is Night? by Grant Snider Dark blues transform into unexpected colors as night reveals its hidden spectrum through raised-line illustrations.
The Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao A blind girl creates mental images of the world through touch and sound during her subway journey.
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young Seven mice investigate different parts of an elephant, building a tactile understanding through collective discovery.
🤔 Interesting facts
🖤 The entire book is printed in black on black paper, with raised illustrations that readers can feel with their fingertips - just like braille.
📖 All text appears twice on each page: once in regular text and once in braille, making it accessible to both sighted and visually impaired readers.
🌈 Though it's a book about colors, it describes them through non-visual senses - like comparing red to "the sweetness of a strawberry" and yellow to "the feeling of sunlight on your face."
✍️ Author Menena Cottin created this groundbreaking work in Venezuela, where it was first published in 2006 before being translated into multiple languages.
🏆 The book won the New Horizons Award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair and has been recognized as an outstanding tool for teaching empathy and understanding of visual impairment.