Rainbows Under the Sea

Jean Free, formerly an elementary-school teacher-librarian, is currently
a library consultant in Ontario.

Miriam the mermaid makes a colorful undersea voyage past “red lounging
lobsters,” “green pompous puffer fish,” “mauve operatic
octopuses,” and “white bathing belugas” to find the pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow.

Odette Johnson’s tactile and vibrant Plasticine illustrations add
humorous and factual detail to preschool children’s knowledge of
undersea life as they examine the “snorkelling seahorses,”
“parading parrot fish,” and “dapper dolphins” dancing across the
page. Her graceful three-dimensional seascapes with their intricate
detail will intrigue preschool/early primary-grade children, and perhaps
encourage them to create such pictures themselves.

Bruce (Odette’s father) Johnson’s story reads aloud well, and
children will enjoy the alliteration and exaggeration that pervade this
short book. The endpapers depict the colors of the rainbow, and the
author’s dedication is to “children of all colors.” The
Johnsons’ earlier books were Apples, Alligators and Also Alphabets, an
ABC book, and One Prickly Porcupine, a counting book. This is a useful
title for teaching basic colors, and perhaps for discussing colors of
people as well. Recommended.