RED
Written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
A Neal Porter Book/Holiday House/October 2021
Dark Red,
Light Red,
Lost red,
Bright red.
Anger, fear, hostility, and ultimately love all figure in the tale of a young fox trying to return to his family. In this companion to the Caldecott Honor Book Green and the highly acclaimed Blue, Laura Vaccaro Seeger once again turns her attention to the ways in which color evokes emotion. Ingenious die-cuts propel the eye from page to page, making for a powerful conclusion to a rich and satisfying trilogy.
(awards)
Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022
Winner – 2022 Zena Sutherland Award for Best Illustrated Picture Book
(reviews)
starred review/Kirkus
“Evokes readers’ empathetic pangs… Gorgeous… Lush illustrations, sensitive interconnections, and subtle visual clues unite all three outstanding volumes...”
starred review/SLJ School Library Journal
“Masterful… unique… powerful… immersive… Red expresses a myriad of strong emotions, from longing, pain, and rage to a final contrast conveying the warmth of kindness in an example of a young girl’s care for the fox’s freedom… Wrapped in the heavy, honest tensions between color and emotion, Seeger emboldens children to connect with the young fox’s story and feel the raw consequence of humans’ indifferent influence on the environment.”
starred review/Booklist
”A worthy companion to its two acclaimed thematic predecessors, Green and Blue… hues of red drive the illustrations… and brings with it associations as varied as anger, courage, danger, joy, and love. Seeger’s thickly painted illustrations deftly convey these myriad emotions… strategically placed die-cuts add interest to the already involving tale of a youngster trying to find its way home.”
starred review/Shelf Awareness
”Ravishing… Seeger pairs the sparest rhyming text with lovingly labored-over die-cut art… each spread wears its brushstrokes with pride... the technique reminds attentive readers of the human presence behind Red, which aligns with the book's message: while the specter of danger looms over the fox, human kindness prevails… a mind-expanding triad… gorgeous…”
featured review/The Wall Street Journal
”Laura Vaccaro Seeger has created meaning and serendipity from the permutations
of a single nuance.”
starred review/CCBC 2022 Choices Best Book
”Each double-page spread has just two words of text, describing not only the variations in the colors of red but also the overall ambience and feelings the fox experiences… Seeger’s acrylic paintings have both depth and texture as they showcase the many shades of red and the emotional tenor of the story.
Horn Book
”The painterly acrylic images immerse viewers in the fox’s world and trials, from it trailing the pack to becoming lost to enduring hunger, injury, and capture, until its eventual return to its family… the story is an anytime one, the fox a stand-in for anyone going through trouble on the way to security.”