My Indigo World: A True Story of the Color Blue

by Rosa Chang (Author)

My Indigo World: A True Story of the Color Blue
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

This gorgeous celebration of the color blue and the indigo plant, by a Korean American debut artist and storyteller, powerfully connects art and the natural world.

With lavish mixed-media art including watercolor painting and hand-dyed textiles, debut author-illustrator Rosa Chang pays tribute to the science and art of growing the indigo plant and making indigo dye. Woven throughout is a poetic tribute to the color blue, Chang's favorite since her girlhood in Korea, and an appreciation of the indigo plant as a valued source of blue dye in cultures around the world.

Informative back matter tells more about the science behind indigo dye production, with an "indigo map" of the shades of blue produced by indigo around the world, and simple instructions for growing your own indigo plants and making homemade blue dye.

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Hardcover
$18.99

Kirkus

Thought- provoking.....an enjoyable dive into the cultural impact of a hypnotizingly beautiful color.

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
Other hues will turn green with envy at the visually stunning and factually thorough attention given indigo blue in this vibrant and informative picture-book debut.... Intimate and meditative...and should find quick use in both scientific and artistic circles.

Publishers Weekly

Chang's autobiographical debut starts off recounting a childhood encounter with indigo dye in Korea, where she first fell in love with "the strong shade of blue sky we called jjok." Later, as an adult in Baltimore, she is given indigo seeds by a friend, and experiential text invites readers to join a community of people, portrayed with various skin tones, tilling soil and tending indigo seedlings in a neighborhood farm until the leaves get large enough "to cover the palm of my hand." "But how do we get a blue dye from these green plants?" Careful time-lapse paintings of a jar of water-covered indigo leaves grows gradually bluer, intensified with pickling lime. The dyers talk about what indigo means to them ("I think indigo is the color in which lives the spirit and soul of my people," one unattributed quotation reads) and Chang acknowledges indigo's historical connection to the labor of enslaved people ("It is important to remember the pain along with the joy"). Indigo-dyed textiles form a backdrop for watercolor portraits of individuals working with the dye in this heartfelt personal reflection about community and heritage. Ages 4-8. (May)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 
Rosa Chang
Rosa Sung Ji Chang 장성지 is a Korean-born visual artist, natural indigo dyer, and storyteller based in New York and Baltimore. A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art and the School of Visual Arts, New York, Rosa has had work exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Paula Cooper Gallery, among many others. This is her debut picture book.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781662650659
Lexile Measure
880
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Minedition
Publication date
May 02, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF013020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Concepts | Colors
JNF037030 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Flowers & Plants
JNF022000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Gardening
Library of Congress categories
-

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