Skip to main content

A Color of His Own

Image from amazon.com

In A Color of His Own, the narrator suffers from an identity crisis. He laments that all other animals have their own color, yet chameleons change color wherever they go. Heavily burdened by his color shifting, he seeks stability but only finds false hope. Fortunately, the narrator eventually meets another chameleon who conveys to him that there is strength in numbers. If they remain together, then even though their colors will change they will always be alike. Throughout the story, Lionni’s brightly colored watercolor narrator wears his heart on his sleeve; he telegraphs his feelings through the position of his eyes, the line of his mouth, and the curl of his tail—making him the very picture of character development from which students can compose thematic statements.

  • A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni; illus. by the author
  • Primary
  • Alfred A. Knopf
  • 40 pp.
  • Published 1975
  • ISBN 978-0375836978
  • $12.95

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Notes From the Field: Waltz Across Texas, First Dance

Originally published August 1, 2024 Library Developments Blog |  Library Development and Networking Division Texas State Library and Archives Commission In July, I kicked off the first in a series of day-long turns around clusters of small public libraries to tour their spaces and chat about how the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) can best support their leadership. This round, the fancy feet of Continuing Education and Consulting Team Manager Katherine Adelberg accompanied me as we spun through New Braunfels Public Library, Seguin Public Library, and Martindale Community Library. New Braunfels Public Library New Braunfels is perched on the brink of the Hill Country, right between San Antonio and Austin on I-35. Spanning Comal and Guadalupe counties with its 105,000 residents, it’s not only one of the fastest-growing cities, but is also regarded as one of the best 50 places to live in the United States. Established in 1845, New Braunfels is known for its German...

Decloaking Wakanda: Creating Space for BIPOC Nerds

On February 9, 2023, at the fourth Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC), I had the exhilarating experience of guiding a discussion that focused on the need to connect with nerd culture and create a welcoming environment for the BIPOC fandom. The soul of this session had been several years in the making and built on countless heart-to-heart moments. So, I couldn’t imagine a better venue for seeing it actualized than my first JCLC. Furthermore, for this session, I had the honor of being in conversation with fellow nerds and comics librarians Jean Darnell and Deimosa Webber-Bey . To my eternal amazement, our talk was met with a standing room only reception, and afterward we were repeatedly regaled with tales of being turned away at the door. In hopes of capturing a small portion of that day's magic, this post grew out of that discussion. *** For the past 30 years, BIPOC nerds have existed in the cringe-worthy shadow of Urkel. What if, instead, they’d had portrayals such as ...

Standing TALL: Choosing to Apply to the Texas Library Association's TALL Texan Leadership Institute

  After having attended the Texas Library Association's TALL Texan Leadership Institute , another library worker reached out to me with questions about my experience. Below are the answers that I provided in response. *** Why did you apply to Tall Texans?  Originally, I heard about TALL Texans as a new school librarian - within my first five years - and at the time it was described to me as an opportunity to gain meaningful leadership training in the field of librarianship that was specific to the Texas Library ecosystem. Thus, it was something that I'd aspired to for quite awhile. However, as time went on, I made my way toward leadership without having attended the institute and began to second guess the value of the investment. However, when I mentioned to my supervisor that I was mildly interested in attending, she strongly encouraged me to apply - stating that not only would the library pay for my tuition but that she believed I would particularly benefit from the con...