The House of Four Seasons by Roger Duvoisin

Classics are classic for a reason. This fabulous story from 1956 by Roger Duvoisin was just brought back to life and released yesterday. I cannot recommend it enough. It is great for art lovers, kids learning their primary colors, or children learning seasons and colors in general. The descriptive language used in this book is imaginative and bright. In 'The House of Four Seasons' a family of four goes to the country to buy a house. They choose an old, dilapidated home and quickly begin repairs. The family decides it would be fun to paint the house themselves and brainstorm color choices. Each family member thinks up different color combinations that would look radiant during a different season. Suzy, for example, thinks they should paint the house red with green shutters to look beautiful against the flowers and tree buds in the spring. They decide to use everyone's ideas- one season on each side of the house. A house of four seasons.

When they get to the paint store, the shop only carries three colors- red, yellow, and blue. The kids are disappointed but father shows them what happens when the colors are combined. He then makes them a color wheel and shows them what color is created when all the colors spin quickly together. Have you ever tried it? There's kind of an instruction manual for this awesome companion craft right in the book! After seeing the color wheel spin, they know the right choice of color for their house.

In addition to the color wheel, another great companion activity for this book is to have your kids paint their own birdhouse. They can experiment mixing colors just like they learned about in the book. Perfect for rainy April days. This book is part of the New York Review Children's Collection.