Book cover for Before Colors. The background is light blue and a rainbow of leaves, flowers, and fossils burst from the top of the book and hang above a girl painting and a boy next to her holding up a paint brush.

2024 Finalist: Children’s Science Picture Book

Before Colors: Where Pigments and Dyes Come From, by Annette Bay Pimentel. (Illustrated by Madison Safer.) Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023.

From award-winning author Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrator Madison Safer, Before Colors is an oversize nonfiction picture book exploring pigments and dyes made from natural sources—across time and around the world.

Colors don’t come out of nothing.
They always start somewhere . . .
With something . . .
With someone.

Discover how color is harnessed from nature in this survey of dyes and pigments from around the world. Organized by color—from yellow to purple to red and more—Before Colors marries a lyrical core text with tons of informational material for curious readers.

In the narrative text, readers will encounter markers and artists as they source and process materials, transforming the most unexpected things into vibrant pigments and dyes. The sidebars offer much more to discover, including extensive lists of specific shades, short bios of colorful characters, and more.