Hailstones and Halibut Bones

What is Yellow?

Yellow is the color of the sun
The feeling of fun
The yolk of an egg
A duck’s bill
A canary bird
And a daffodil.

I remember this book of poetry from my childhood. Written by Mary O’Neill and titled Hailstones and Halibut Bones, it features poems about twelve colors. O’Neill captures the things, smells, sounds and feelings associated with colors. For the red poem she writes, “Red is a hotness you get inside when you’re embarrassed and want to hide.” In her gray poem O’Neill writes, “It’s fog and smog, fine print and lint, it’s the hush and the bubbling of oatmeal mush.” As a child, I would close my eyes and wonder if I would know the color if I had never seen it before. The classic from 1961 was re-published and now can be found more easily. My kids love this book.

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