The Colours of Home (Sally Soweol Han, T&H)

As the title The Colours of Home suggests, colour plays a central role in this beautiful picture book by Korean-Australian artist Sally Soweol Han (Nightsong, Tiny Wonders). The story follows a child who moves to a new country. At first, everything seems different, ‘except for the silver moon’. But soon, the child begins to notice familiar colours in her new surroundings: the emerald and jade of a Korean forest are like the colours of the trees in the suburban park she used to visit in Australia, and the ‘brilliantly blue’ magpies resemble the fairy-wrens from her old backyard. The book beautifully captures a child’s experience of adapting to a new environment by finding connections to her old home. Han does a wonderful job of bringing this journey to life through glorious hand-drawn and painted illustrations. Soft, textured and vividly detailed, the thoughtful visual storytelling is a delight, with each page and panel offering rich contrasts and parallels that engage the eye. Han’s ability to convey a positive, reassuring message makes this book especially valuable for children settling into a new home or an unfamiliar environment. With minimal text and plenty of intricate details to explore, this book is suitable for young toddlers and older children alike.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Angela Meyer is an author and lecturer in writing and publishing at RMIT. She is a former publisher and bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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