Colors are beautiful and simply divine! Leaf through the pages. The stand out. They shine! Red from a bug? Blue from a plant? Green from a rock? Amazing! Children are surrounded by colors. Nature is a treasury of colors. Hence, it is natural for children to want to express what they feel and see with colors themselves. This begs a question. How can children MAKE colors? How did people make colors in the olden days? Even people who dwelt in caves long ago made colors. Just how did they do it? What did they use? Our dear Shapes, in their own love for colors, have long studied the ancient arts of creating colors. To all children who are curious to know as well, they are more than happy to share with them story after story about this wonderful art. Their stories touch upon histories, continents, and cultures of yesterday and of today. The Shapes want children to go beyond liking colors and knowing their names. In The Shape Story 4, they encourage children to go hands-on, back to essence and fundamentals of color-making. Children can make colors, too, you know. (with parental guidance, of course!) Miss Anna's The Shape Story 4 is a colorful gem! In this educational fiction, Miss Anna invites children to explore the world of pigments and dyes with their newest friends, the Shapes. Full of delightful pictures and told with the coziness of a rhyme, The Shape Story 4 will warm the hearts and tickle the minds of children and parents alike. Without a doubt, children will start to gaze at colors in a different way, a yet deeper way. After all, it is easy to take colors for granted, since they are readily available as crayons and markers. But thousands of years ago, hundreds of years ago even, colors had to be made--by hand. Painters in their art studios and monks in their monasteries, for example, made their own concoction of pigments and dyes from the resources available to them. A lot of delicate labor was involved in creating a small cake, or a dab of paint, or a watery pigment of a color (lake). Such endeavors required patient observation and a willing mind to experiment. Nevertheless, such pursuits were well rewarded! They created beautiful pigments, pigments that held much promise. Indeed, our fathers (of old) had pride in their color making craft. And they should be, since the colors they had created still shine out brilliantly in the paintings that decorate the lofty museum hallways and galleries. In The Shape Story 4, children are introduced to this colorful craft of making colors. Children are invited into studios, kitchens, and places in the past and present to observe how people made (make) pigments and dyes from the treasures nature provides. If you like stories told with the comfort of a rhyme, if you would like to know more about these colorful secrets, snuggle in with your child for this wonderful read. Miss Anna's The Shape Story 4 is colorfully enriching and eye-opening. Buy the book to learn about the ancient craft of making colors! The Shapes will be there, eagerly waiting to share with you the stories they have found!