Yesterday I Had the Blues

The poetic language conjures abstract yet powerful images.

Author: Jeron Frame Illustrator: R. Christie Pages: 32 Publisher: Tricycle Press Published Date: 11/25/2003 Genre: Non-Fiction - Poetry HC Price: $14.95 Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 5-9 Read Aloud: 5+ Read Alone: 6+

Common Sense Note

As the young narrator matches his feelings with different colors, this poetic story offers a good opportunity to talk with a child about feelings in general, both their own and those of family members; and, perhaps, to talk about matching colors to those feelings as well.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Marigny Dupuy

Moody and insightful, the poetic language in this appealing book conjures abstract yet powerful images. Not only does the young boy reflect on the colors of his own feelings, he asks family members to match a color with their feelings. He shows himself to be empathetic as he listens and tries to understand what they say.

The expressive illustrations are stylized and sophisticated, yet exuberant. Created by R. Gregory Christie, two time Coretta Scott King Award winning illustrator of Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth written by Anne Rockwell, and The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children, they add visual poetry to the boy's thoughtful narration.

Plot Summary:

A boy describes both his own feelings and those of his family members in terms of color. Beginning with the well-known blues, he describes them as "those deep down in my shoes blues/ the go away, Mr. Sun, quit smilin' at me blues."

He goes on to describe his sense of the greens as ""The kind of/ greens make you /want to be Somebody," and his grandmother's yellows as "The hummin' that parade song,/ flower house slipper yellows," and so on, through the greys, pinks, indigos, reds, silvers, and goldens.