Thanks to NetGalley for the exposure to this book! This book is all about colors and animals on their first day of school. The animals are fun and each is associated with a different color. Once at school, they use their colors to make even more colors with their classmates. It was fun and cute and kept my 3yo’s attention.

Everyone Has Something To Offer & Celebrate

I think this book would be great to incorporate over the summer months leading up to starting school. It addresses feeling nervous, making friends while having some education woven into the story. I would imagine the repetition and familiarity leading up to the weekend before starting school would be of support.

The illustration of the animals and corresponding colors are incorporated with the concept of mixing colors together to create new ones.

I received a free copy of this book from Raven Howell, Carina Povarchik and Black Rose Writing. I am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. I have a 2.5 year old and this is a step up from basic board book staples like brown bear brown bear and mouse paint! This had so many great adjectives and adverbs that you don’t typically see! can’t wait to purchase and read to her.

The first day of school can be a frightful thing indeed. We all remember the various feelings that we had when it was the morning of the first day. In this story, we get to follow how the different animal students get ready for their school day. I particularly like how the book uses repetition to instill in the reader how getting ready can take many forms.
This books hits many notes that are vital to early readers. As the students are getting ready, we see cause and effect. Later on we get to see how working together makes everyone happy.
I would definitely recommend this book to teachers of primary grades as well as parents with kiddos that are nervous or unsure about school.

I would like to express my gratitude to Raven Howell, Carina Polvarchik, Black Rose Writing, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the Digital Reader Copy of this text. Here is my brief review.

This was a lovely board book depicting an array of creatures rushing off for their first day of school. On the one hand, it would have been good to see them up in good time and heading off to their lessons, but reframed, I came to see the animals as being excited for their first day.

I appreciated how the name of the color was typed in the color itself. I also liked that there were several creatures named, which provided a secondary learning aspect but also highlighted that a class is made up of unique individuals. The book went a step further with its learning by also demonstrating the result of compromising/mixing colors.

On the surface, this is such a simple text with extremely bland, simplistic picture on stark white pages that limits the opportunity for distraction. However, looking a little deeper, the subtle messages are apparent. The book delivers the message that school is exciting and nothing to fear. It provides a positive outlook about making friends and getting along well with everyone. By the end of the book, the pictures are fuller, almost like the book is saying that as an individual you are not quite as fulfilled but as a group, you are complete.

A great book for preschoolers gearing up for their first day that gives them some useful information for their knowledge bank from the outset.

A lesson and narrative quite decently combine here, as copious animals are all bound for school on the first day of the new year. We meet them all, and see their different colours – for not only are we looking at, for example, a yellow butterfly, but we're reading the word 'yellow' – in a yellow-coloured font. And despite many doubts, queries and quibbles about the new school vibe, all the animals get along perfectly well with each other by, well, by mixing paint colours together.

This then is decently educational about the colours, but offers a little bit of reassurance about the next few years of school life, too. I wasn't a huge fan of every critter's second little paragraph, with its poetic take on how the beast is moving to school (and the snail never got one in my copy, anyway), but the rest was perfectly OK. It's no world-changer, but it's no harm to anyone, either, and four stars is close enough to the real deal to be the final verdict.

The first day of school in color, this book takes us through each animal who is getting ready for school and how they spend their first day.

A lovely story that follows the colorful critters, as they navigate their first-day jitters!
Carina Povarchik has used simple, yet whimsical illustrations that thankfully do not distract from the narrative or the many learning opportunities available in this book. My early reader enjoyed that they could easily read sections of this story, and my younger children enjoyed the creatures and the colorful theme. This is a lovely addition for any child before their first day of school (or beginning somewhere new).

Many thanks to Black Rose Writing for the digital review copy, via NetGalley. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

The animals are starting school and wonder if they will be liked and what they will find out as the day begins in this delightfully whimsical story.
The illustrations by artist Carina Povarchik are simple, colorful, and expressive.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school, doctor's office, or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected efile on PDF from the author and BooksGoSocial via NetGalley. Thank you!
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sweet little tome that introduces colors, school, and even diversity mixed in with a bit of an art lesson. Very cute, simple drawings.

I would recommend this picture book to children aged 5-8. It is good for learning new words such as the colours and animals. I really liked the cartoon pictures that the author has included. I also liked the main theme of the book, including the words. I like the references to songs from my childhood. I think its important that children learn those songs as well as colours and animal names.

Book Review by Erica Jones @ Climb the Stacks

A Colorful Beginning by Raven Howell, illustrated by Carina Povarchik
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Children’s Corner

A Colorful Beginning is a beautiful picture book that is set in a school setting. The main idea and plot was thoughtfully planned and executed with ease. I throughly enjoyed the premise, it was done in a way that was encouraging the love of art from everyone. Brilliant! I highly recommend this picture book to everyone!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#acolorfulbeginning #ravenhowell #NetGalley #goodreads #bookreview

This is a really lovely little story! The story is well written, it is easy to follow and understand, has some lovely characters and best of all, plenty of wonderful illustrations that bring the story to life - it is well laid out and colourful. It was a pleasure to read and such great messaging too. I loved the end and the mixing of the colours too. It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!

A nice little book for the young ones who are about to start school - your little ones will easily be able to relate to one of the characters who are embarking on their first day of school, while also helping to ease any worries that they may have.

It also incorporated maths, spelling and colours which I thought was a fun touch too.

Thank-you Black Rose Writing, Raven Howell, Carina Povarchik and NetGalley for this Digital Advanced Readers Copy, in exchange for an honest review.

What a heart warming book! Raven Howell and carina povarchik do excellent work together with the two mediums writing and art in order to tell such an important story for blossoming young minds.

A Colorful Beginning is a story about first day of school nerves. The animals are all worried if they will fit in and discover that their differences are what make them special and a part of the school family. I enjoyed the illustrations and how it gave a brief color lesson along the way.

Thanks to Black Rose Writing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.

Can we give this 10 stars?! I absolutely love this book! This book seems perfect for children ages 3-6, as it's great for kindergarten preparation but still gentle enough for younger ages. It’s more than just a book about colors and the first day of school. It covers topics like addition, animal identification, color mixing, basic math, and even helps with sounding out simple words. I believe this book can be revisited multiple times, and with enough repetition, children will grasp the concepts. Plus, you could extend the learning by adding coloring sheets, practicing 3-letter words, or experimenting with color mixing as shown in the book. Truly wonderful!