Hailstones and Halibut Bones

They make you feel

Every feeling there is

From the grumpiest grump

To the fizziest fizz.

And you and you and I 

Know well

Each has a taste 

And each has a smell

And each has a wonderful

Story to tell....

Hailstones and Halibut Bones

Mary O'Neil

illustrated by John Wallner 1989

Mary O'Neill has written a marvelous book about colors.  Each poem describes a color, weaving in all the senses in such clever and glorious ways.  We love reading this and talking about how the colors make us feel, or the things we think of when we think of a particular color.   Did O'Neil get her descriptions right?  

Gold is the sunshine 

Light and thin 

Warm as a muffin

 On your skin.

Brown is a freckle

Brown is a mole

Brown is the earth

When you dig a hole.

Brown is the hair 

On many a head

Brown is chocolate 

And gingerbread.

Brown is a feeling

You get inside

When wondering makes 

Your mind grow wide.

Brown is a leather shoe

And a good glove---

Brown is as comfortable

As love.

Orange is zip

Orange is dash

The brightest stripe

In a Roman sash.

Orange is an orange

Also a mango

Orange is music

Of the tango.

Orange is the fur

Of the fiery fox,

The brightest crayon

In the box.

And in the fall

When the leaves are turning

Orange is the smell

Of a bonfire burning...

Charlotte particularly agreed with this part from the Purple poem:

Purple's more popular 

Than you think...

It's sort of a great

Grandmother to pink.