Blue Chameleon

A lonely chameleon ventures out to make a friend, and matches his color and shape to the things he meets, including a banana, cockatoo, snail, boot, sock, ball, fish, grasshopper, rock, and finally another chameleon.

A blue chameleon changes, sometimes with great difficulty, whenever he encounters other creatures and objects in his world.

“Pink
cockatoo
Swirly
snail
Brown
boot”

I read this book earlier in the year when I was focusing on Emily Gravett readalouds. Children unanimously loved this story. I adore

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both its simplicity and its cleverness.

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Clearly a book about colors, but I really enjoyed the chameleon echoing the shape of his would be friends - especially the boot. The end papers and even the publication information continue the theme of the book in a fun way too.

A lonely chameleon is willing to do anything to find a friend. From turning pink like a cockatoo to stripy like a sock, he changes his appearance according to who or what he comes across. He meets another chameleon and has to be no one but himself, which is essentially the moral of the story: be

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who you are. Young children would enjoy this book because of it's simple yet bright pictures and easy-to-read story line.

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This simple book is about a chameleon and the other creatures or objects that he comes to resemble, not only in terms of color, but also shape. It's beautifully illustrated with colored pencil on rough watercolor paper. Children will enjoy noticing how he can make his color AND shape resemble all

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of these things!

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This is such a great book for young children and toddlers, not only does it teach a great lesson that you should not change to make others like you, but it is so beautifully illustrated it wouldn't really matter what the lesson was it would be great either way. It was so clear what the author

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wanted to teach without reading any of the few words that are in the book. Absolutely loved this, I am so glad I was made aware of it!

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Blue Chameleon can change into any color he wants, imitating everyday objects and trying to find a new friend. The hard part with objects that don't support you back means you are often feeling down (and honestly blue) at the thought of having no one by your side. This book with introductions to

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colors and shapes is a great start for young kids to explore and also walk side by side with Blue Chameleon as he goes to find a friend.

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A humorous introduction to colors and shapes.

Grades PS-1
Why is the chameleon blue? Kids will enjoy predicting what the story is about from the expressive chameleon on the cover. With only two words per each double-page spread-- yellow banana... pink cockatoo... spotty ball-- Gravett clearly portrays the chameleon's desire for a friend and the

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lengths to which he will go to fit in. As he gets more and more discouraged, he goes to gray on a rock, and then blends in to white on the page. Children will have to look closely to see the little hand reaching over on the white page with a tentative "Hello?" and will love the happily ever after exuberant ending.

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What a beautifully charming book! Almost makes me want to share it with some random child!

A lonely chameleon tries to find a friend by imitating others alive and otherwise. The illustrations are delicate
The white page has an almost invisible raised line outlining the chameleon. He finally meets another chameleon and is very happy as his colors and designs suggest.

Summary
Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett presents a lonely chameleon that is searching for a companion. At first, the chameleon uses its color-changing abilities to mimic the creatures and items that it is seeking friendship with. When it meets a banana, it turns yellow and curved. When it meets a

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snail, it turns swirly, like the snails shell. When it meets a striped sock, it turns “stripy.” However, after being unsuccessful, the chameleon learns in order to truly be happy and find a real friend, it must be itself.

Critique
Gravett creates this story by using minimal text (There are usually just two words per page layout.) and pencil-type, colored illustrations. Most of the phrases are separated by having the adjective on the left with the noun on the right. This separation of grammar lends itself well to helping younger students with processing language structure and word types.
Besides the words, including speech bubbles, the chameleon and the object of its attention are the only things present. Gravett's use of minimal background, along with the large, handlettered Bembo text, emphasizes the similarities between the chameleon and each object. At one point, the chameleon merges with the blank page, disappearing in the whiteness. Gravett uses the similarities and contrasts of color and pattern to emphasize the theme of the book: being true to oneself.

Recommendation
Gravett's book is great for young readers. The vibrant, yet simplistic, sketches along with the minimal text with consistent phrase structure would be a great book for teaching emergent readers the adjective-noun connection. The message of “being true to oneself” is also articulated well through both the illustrations and text and is a lesson well worth learning.

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A perfect beginner book to help learn colors and shapes. Cute, fun, and bright colors are used to leave no doubt about what they are learning.

This is a color and shape book about a blue chameleon who is just trying to find someone like him who will be his friend. He can make himself into any shape or color, but he doesn't find anyone who wants to be his friend. He is determined though!

Oh!  Much more light and simple than I expected, based on the other Gravett titles that have impressed me.  There's, what, about 20 total words in this book that uses 'colors' to teach about friendship....  But I feel I ought to mention that it's pretty easy to read a negative subtext into the

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story.  A reader could get the message that it's ridiculous to make friends with others, that clans should cohere, and that everyone else is 'other.'  Why the heck can't a chameleon and a grasshopper be friends?  Why can't a Jew and an Arab be friends?  I do like the body language of the sad chameleon, though, as he tries to be empathetic and akin to the grasshopper, and the cockatoo, etc.

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A chameleon in search of a fitting companion changes his colors in attempts to fit in with those around him. "Blue Chameleon" doesn't need many words to communicate the Chameleon's struggle to belong. This is a struggle that most if not all people face. This book teaches young readers that they do

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not need to change in order to fit in with a certain type of friend, and that true friendship leaves room for colorful personality.

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A lonely chameleon attempts to connect with other objects and animals by making himself look like them and talk like them. The narration is minimal (two words on each page, plus dialogue bubbles from the characters), but the colored pencil drawings are bright and animated.

The story of a chameleon who changes colors to be like different things he sees.

In a cute way, this book tells you how a chameleon camouflages with anything that they want. It can be an item, or another animal. In the story the chameleon is trying to find a friend, but none of them really respond s to him. At the end of the story the chameleon finds someone like him.

This book asks students to find the similarities and differences in the colors and shapes of the Chameleon and the object it is mimicking. The illustrations of this book are fun because the Chameleon mimics the objects very well. I think students would find this book humorous, inspiring, and

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relaxing.

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The lonely Chameleon will go to any lengths to find a friend. He tries to blend in with anything he meets -- a banana, cockatoo, even a boot! He his about to give up until he finds a colorful friend someone just like him. Children will enjoy this colorful story with a happy ending. Would recommend

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for grades Pre-K-1.

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I loved this book! Blue chameleon is feeling lonely, so as he meets other animals (and, entertainingly, things) he greets them by imitating their colors and shapes, until, just as he's given up, he meets a new friend.

This is a very simple, non-cluttered book. Each page has only a couple of words

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(most of which are in chameleon's word balloons), and the pictures are against a pure white background. That background really lets Gravett's art pop. And her illustrations are gorgeous! The colors are rich, and the drawings very expressive, which makes it a great storytime book. But what I loved best is that the art is drawn, and Gravett included those throwaway lines - the ones she decided not to use and that others would normally erase, and those inclusions really make the book for me. I guess I appreciate seeing the 'building blocks' of a drawing... Plus, there's a really great page in which chameleon really blends in!

Highly recommended!

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New Emily Gravett Book!!!!! eeeeeee! Whimsical, funny, beautiful book.