This absolutely delightful children's book was written after a child asked the author why God had made people different colors. In the story, the child who asks that question is asked what he thinks the answer is. The child explains that God made the flowers different colors but kept each color separate until the fields were full of groups of fragrant blooms in orange, red, white, purple, etc. Happy with his creation and loving the flowers' beauty, God was presented with a bouquet of all the flowers in a multi-colored arrangement. Seeing how beautiful the arrangement was—even more so together than separate—God decided that he would make his people different colors, as well.

This gentle, charming story contains an introduction in which Cosgrove explains that as a young person watching the evening news, he was horrified to see people who were trying to sit and eat peacefully at lunch counters being dragged into streets to be beaten and hosed. With such a life-altering event in his background, it is perhaps no surprise that he has created a tale that seems especially timely in these days when hatred and violence battle tolerance and compassion in the US and globally. Learning to appreciate the beauty of "different colors" together and the richness of that diversity are life lessons that even younger children will pick up on in this story. Although, as a children’s tale, the book is small, it teaches a truth that is gigantic. Coming across as charming rather than preachy, this is a book that would be a valuable tool for parents wishing to help their children appreciate the beauty of racial diversity.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

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