This feels like two books smashed into one. Most of the first half is an introduction to different animal characters on their way to school. There is a distinct format and pacing to the first half of the book. Even the artwork is distinct. The pages are mainly white. The character is a sketch and color. However, the last pages are full color. In end all the critters are in the classroom adding and mixing together. Everything about this feels like two different books. One feels like the first book where they’re all on their way to school and the second book is what happens when they get to school. Except there’s nothing in between the two. It needs a break. It needs to end. I do like the artwork but going from the stark white to the full color is a choice. Also the font size changes between the first half and the second half. And the font size changes because the words almost quadruple from the first half of the book to the second. I like the first half of this book. The first half of this book is a great book. The second half is too wordy. Extremely repetitive. To say the red ladybug and the orange butterfly mix their red and orange color. It is repetitive and almost makes you want to stop reading.

A Colorful Beginning is all about going to school for different animals. The simple illustrations help to build understanding for early readers. Color words throughout the book are color coded to build student's vocabulary. Along with the book, adults can encourage readers to discuss feelings and colors. Not necessary for collections but an additional purchase

The book was easy to follow yet engaging and interactive. It will challenge children to think out of their comfort zone and pull from their own experiences ◡̈

I liked the illustrations at the beginning. It is a cute story about different animals getting ready to go to school. So this is great for little kids who are just starting school or are going back to school. The only thing I was not a fan of was the change in pace in the middle. It goes from a small amount of text-to-illustration ratio to a lot of text. But other than that it is really cute.

Not my favorite. The writing feels stilted, the illustrations are pretty simple and the books tries to do too much. It looks at the social-emotional impact of going to school, teaches math, spelling, all the colors and then veers off into color mixing. Any one of those topics could have been the focus of a book about colorful animals going back to school but we didn’t need all of them together. Kids will enjoy (if they don’t already know) learning which colors mix to make which others (and running off to try it themselves) but most of the rest of the content will get lost in the attempt to do more things than a children’s book can easily support!

A Colorful Beginning by Raven Howell is an enjoyable book to read with cute illustrations and a good message about first day of school jitters. The learning about colours and mixing them aspect of this book was really good and my great niece enjoyed it so would recommend to children of all ages.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting access to this book

This a charming tale about animals first day of school. This book is perfect to read to young children who are just about to head off to school for the very first time. This book teaches little ones that while school can be scary and anxiety provoking at first, it can also be a lot of fun.

This is a cute book. The illustrations are colorful and whimsical and a lot of fun. The story itself is great for young kids who might be nervous to start school, or are nervous about being different. And there’s a bit of learning thrown in as well with the mixing of colors.

What a fun book to read to toddlers or babies. It’s a book about a diverse cast of animals and bugs heading off to school. With how it is written, it’s a great way to learn new words and adjectives, and colors!

a cute and quick read for kids to help them learn colors with simple illustrations and to the point to keep their focus, both my 1 and 4 year old loved this one.

I appreciated the simple text and illustrations of this book. The repetition throughout in addition to the focus on colors and sounds makes it a great early literacy pick. Unfortunately, like other reviewers, I felt that the two sections of the book were quite disjointed. The book goes from having just a few words per page to a couple sentences on each page. I also don't feel that this book accomplishes anything new or particularly exciting, but it doesn't need to. I think there are lots of toddlers and pre-k-ers out there that will enjoy this book.

Super cute. Very fun concept. Liked the introduction of color and math problems. Illustrations were precious. Thank you, NetGalley for the arc and exchange for an honest review.

What a cute book that introduced different creatures and the colors they bring. It speaks on the idea that we are better together and together we can create something beautiful. It also spoke brilliant on first day excitement and jitters. My daughter loved this book, all the colors, as well as the use of numbers. The pictures in this book were also really well done and brought it all together.

Thank you to Netgalley and this team for allowing me to read an advanced copy. I will definitely be purchasing this to read in our head start classrooms to relieve first day jitters.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the eARC! This is a cute colors book for toddlers and preschoolers! Preschoolers will be able to relate to going to school like all the animals in the book. I like the simple illustrations that highlight the color being mentioned with each animal.

This book was cute. The illustrations were cute but there also was not much to them, my kids were a little confused about a bunch of bugs going to school and joined by a cat and a squirrel. It felt like it just didnt fit. I would have maybe added a praying mantis or some other bugs that are just as interesting.

Thank you NetGalley, Raven Howell, Carina Povarchik and Black Rose Writing for allowing me to review.

I absolutely loved everything about this book! The illustrations are adorable. It covers so many of the things. Children are nervous about before the first day of school and gives them a sense of comfort for what is gonna happen when they get there. I love the different animals And their experiences. This book is a very quick read, but so much fun!

This was such a sweet book. Loved how it not only teaches colors to kids but also teaches color theory and how colors mix to create new. Cute short little book

A Colorful Beginning is a greatly illustrated picture book about various animals and insects preparing for their very first day of school, and I could not have adored it more. I enjoyed each animal's little section of getting ready for school, especially the squirrel with the apples. Both the vocabulary and storyline are age appropriate, and the onomatopoeia will be sure to draw young readers in. I can't recommend this book enough, especially for children who are about to start school!

A Colorful Beginning is a fun picture book that introduces colors (and along the way a few other things like counting as well). I liked the aesthetic choice to have the illustrations be somewhat minimal (no backgrounds/background color) until the little animals get to school, meet their teacher, and start their art assignment. However, the two parts of the book did feel a bit disjointed because the first half seemed simpler and had less text on each page compared to the later pages. I do think this works as a nice first day of school book and I think a teacher could use this on the first day of school and tie it in with a first day art activity (like the teacher in the book).

This is such a cute read. The illustrations were eye catching, and I think it would be a great choice for elementary age kids. Since it takes place on the first day of school, it would be perfect to read to kids on, or before, the first day of school!