Still Blue

Evening in the garden.

Red boots and pink zinnias, gold hearts and a green can, and one big butterfly: blue, blue, blue, Kits favorite color.

Kit and Grandpa sit on the back step, sipping lemonade and tea, while a pipevine swallowtail sips from a bright pink zinnia. Then the sun slips low, and one by one the gardens colors go gray. Red goes gray. Pink goes gray. Gold goes gray. Green goes gray. And the butterfly? Still blue!

Up, up, up she flutters to a branch where the last light stays. She folds her wings up small, and the blue is gone. But when Kit looks close, there are seven tiny orange suns, and the blue, tucked inside. "Safe till morning," says Grandpa. So Kit waves goodnight, and after a bath and blue pajamas, Kit folds up, too.

Still Blue is a calm, cozy bedtime picture book made for reading aloud:

A refrain to say together: "And the butterfly?""Still blue!" comes back page after page, getting softer as the light fades, so little listeners can join in. A world that slowly goes gray: spread by spread, the gardens colors fade toward night, a gentle wind-down to sleep. Real nature, softly told: based on a real pipevine swallowtail on a real zinnia, with true details: these butterflies sip nectar from zinnias, rest at night with their wings folded, and show a row of bright orange spots on the underside. A reassuring ending: in the dark, nothing is lost. The blue is only tucked away, and Kit is still Kit. Goodnight, blue.

With soft watercolor illustrations in the colors of a late-summer garden (deep butterfly blue, zinnia pink and gold, and garden green), this is a soothing read for bedtime, nap time, and any child who wonders where the colors go at night.

For ages 2 to 5.