If Chocolate Were Purple by Jen Barton- A Review

Book: If Chocolate Were Purple
Author: Jen Barton
Illustrator: Yoko Matsuoka
Publisher: Flickerfawn Publications
Pages: 28
My recommended age range: 2-7

Having two girls, you can imagine that purple is a popular color in our house. In fact, I push the color purple to try and displace the sea of pink that plagues most girl toys. So, I was thrilled when I received the book If Chocolate Were Purple to review from author Jen Barton.

If Chocolate Were Purple is a playful book that takes your child's imagination in all sorts of silly ways to imagine how the world could possibly be different. Imagine rainbow sandwiches, rocketship stew, glow-in-the-dark bananas, and flying dolphins, just to name a few. If you don't start laughing after the first couple of pages, you are taking life way too seriously.

The easy rhythms and colorful illustrations in this book keep children entertained and giggling. My daughters loved imagining little stars coming into their bedrooms at night to sing them lullabies. The story really provided a springboard for discussing all the ways we could make our life silly by changing the way things are right now. I love books that spark the discussion, "Could you imagine?" We imagined Charlie and the Chocolate Factory manufacturing purple chocolate. I think this isn't really too much of a stretch. And, we felt that the chocolate river in the book would be much more appealing if it was purple instead of a muddy brownish color.

Given that many children are fearful of the dark and things that go bump in the night, my oldest daughter took comfort in the idea of lollipop soldiers that would stand by her bed to protect her from scary monsters.

What I adored about this book was how even though on the surface the book is just silly and fun, the overarching message of the book is that no matter how much things may change a parent will still love and be there for their child. That is such an important message to repeat over and over again to your children. You never know when life may turn upside down for your family, and having a child know in their heart that no matter what you will be there for them is invaluable.

Want to know more about the book and how the author came up with the concept? Check out her interview with ABC27 where she explains the inspiration for this story. Or, you can check out her website: http://www.jbartonbooks.com/if-chocolate-were-purple. Or you can follow her on Twitter (@FionaThornBoo) or like her on Facebook.

Both my girls highly recommend If Chocolate Were Purple. I know this because my youngest daughter brings the book to me at to read to her before bed almost nightly since receiving it, and my oldest made sure I wasn't giving the book away as part of some blog related giveaway.

You can find this book on:
Amazon: If Chocolate Were Purple, Barnes and Noble: If Chocolate Were Purple, or Good Reads: If Chocolate Were Purple.

IF CHOCOLATE WERE PURPLE. Text copyright © 2013 by Jen Barton. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Yoko Matsuoka. Reproduced by permission of the author.

The review copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. All
opinions expressed are my own.

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