My Yellow Umbrella Review

My Yellow Umbrella is a whimsical, uplifting children’s book by Chris Robertson.  He is both the author and illustrator of this book, as well as all of the others he has written. Recently he has also done the illustrations for Julia Dweck’s Pandora’s box.  I have received a copy of My Yellow Umbrella in exchange for our honest opinions about it.  This review also contains affiliate links.

The pages in this book are almost monochrome with just one or two pastel colours on each page.  It works well and it goes through a rainbow of pastels throughout the book. The one bright rainbow page is Tristan’s favourite as it contains all of his favourite colours.

The sketches in this book are simple, yet contain a lot of detail.  They are like sketches you’d see an artist making while touring through France.  This girl is drawn with such grace and joy that it is easy to fall into her day with her and feel relaxed.

This book has the continental feel of Paris, but if you look close you will see the signs are from San Francisco.   This girl is so happy and easily contented.  Her favourite thing in the world is her yellow umbrella.  Nothing compares to her yellow umbrella.  It takes her away into a land of possibilities where anything and everything is possible.  It’s bright and cheerful, but not overwhelming.  She doesn’t need a dreary or rainy day to enjoy time with her yellow umbrella.

I dream of all of life’s possibilities

This girl goes through a lot of positive emotions during her day with her yellow umbrella, and it would be a good time to discuss feelings and emotions with your child after reading this book.  You could brainstorm ways in which your child (and maybe us adults as well) could change a bad mood into a good mood.

My Yellow Umbrella is just the book to read before bed to put your in the spirit of positiveness and good dreams to start the next day off fresh and positive.  Don’t worry if you’re feeling too tired to read, that’s no excuse for your children not to listen to this book!  We’ve had the pleasure to have a sneak ‘pre-sound’ of Chris reading aloud his own book!  I’m impressed to say that I had been reading the book in a similar fashion as he narrates it himself.  The narration will be available for the iTunes and Nook versions in the coming months so keep your eye out for it!

Tristan says, “I like the story, everything about it”.  He’s asked for the book over again, and hearing Chris read it to him and Kallista is a new experience for them both.
If you’d like to learn more about Chris and the projects he’s worked on, you can connect with him through his own website Chris Robertson Books, his Facebook page or through Twitter.

Chris Robertson is an author/illustrator of Children’s Picture Books. His most recent book is “My Yellow Umbrella”. Chris’s other books include “I’ll Trade My Peanut-Butter Sandwich”, “Little Miss Liberty”, “Kit and Kaboodle”, “The Tooth That’s on the Loose!” and “Pandora’s Box” with Julia Dweck. While in elementary school, Chris was introduced to “Curious George”, “Madeline”, and “Harry the Dirty Dog” by way of the Bookmobile. The introduction left such a strong impression, that even at an early age, Chris knew children’s books were going to be an important part of his life.  He spent 10 years freelancing as an illustrator mainly for magazines and newspapers. He broke in as a storyboard artist for Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Chris moved up the creative ladder to become storyboard director. Learning how to create a story only in pictures gave him the confidence to create and write his own children’s books.