Matthew Bennett Young

Maybe Colours Matthew Bennett Young

Maybe Colours is a beautifully illustrated picture book with simple poetic text that encourages an understanding of the importance of equality and diversity using colour as a theme.

♥ Encourages children to express their experience and feelings

✓ Perfect gift for anyone that loves poetry and art.

★ Many teachers/schools have used the book as a template. Children can write their own simple poem about their experience of colour and then enjoy illustrating it!

The content, illustration and layout are arranged to give a sense of space for reflection. Designed for parents and children to discuss their associations and experience of different colours, this book conveys that there are many different sources and shades of the 'same colour', (it's not all black and white) and that every colour has its place and equal significance. Maybe Colours is a meditation on possibilities and was the basis of a course developed in Sweden to support and specifically promote a new EQ (emotional intelligence) curriculum in schools there. Essentially Maybe Colours was written with a view to encouraging tolerance and understanding - the word "maybe" is a "pivot" for perspective-taking, enabling us to consider other possibilities for meanings, concepts and in real-life situations we can find ourselves in. Developing children's abilities to consider alternative perspectives about sources of colour, associations with objects or animals has real-world applications: misunderstandings often occur when we do not consider alternative possibilities of meaning when engaging with other people. The active use of this word may help to prevent such misunderstandings and to encourage open-minded thinking.