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They Say Blue, written and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, beautifully captures the colors of the world as seen through a child’s eyes.

What I liked:

• This is such a gorgeous book! I always try to select attractive picture books because I think at least half their value rests in the quality of the art, but They Say Blue is definitely in my top ten. Tamaki achieves wonderful effects with her use of color and line, and every page is a treat.
• Although race is never mentioned in the book, the main character appears to be Asian. I really appreciate the effortless integration of a character of color in a story that is not about race and the fact it was done by an Asian creator.
• The end page illustration of the braid is lovely! I always thought braids were so pretty to look at as a kid – I still do, though I’ve never figured out why I’m so drawn to them – and Tamaki’s illustration brought back that quirky piece of childhood.
• According to the end page, the illustrations were created using paint and PhotoShop. The watery, flowing wash of colors on each page had me thinking constantly of 墨絵 while reading. I wonder if Tamaki would ever create a picture book using ink – I think she would do an excellent job. Speaking of ink, I would love to see a Nikkei author/illustrator create a picture book about learning 書道 in Japanese school. Oh…now I’m brainstorming a whole subgenre of picture books centered on Nikkei traditions. Some days I really wish I was a visual artist!

What I learned:

• They Say Blue reminded me picture books play by different “plot” rules than novels. In some ways, I don’t think text was needed at all – Tamaki’s art is so visually expressive, the reader’s interpretation and response is already happening without any textual guidance. At the same time, I do like the idea of an artist narrating her own work, especially if we compare this situation to a museum exhibit, where in most cases the artist is not on hand to provide commentary. I don’t mean to say artist commentary is always necessary to the audience experience, but I do think it’s interesting for the audience to know what the artist had in mind, and to compare it with their own thoughts.

Questions I had:

• Is there a Japanese edition of this book? I was mentally translating some of the lines into Japanese while reading and I concluded this story would work very well in Japanese – it really reminds me of some of the books from my childhood. I think I may bring a copy or two on my next visit, since the English is probably simple enough for my cousin’s kids to understand.

Follow-up:

• I would love, love, love to read more picture books by Jillian Tamaki! I’ll definitely be putting this book on my “Quick Recs by Nikkei Authors” list (one of these days I should write this list down instead of keeping it all in my head) because I think readers of all ages will enjoy it.