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Materials
Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Key Science Concepts
- Two or more colors can be combined to make a new color.
- Something of one color against a background of a similar color may be hard to see.
- Something of one color against a background of a contrasting color is easy to see.
Vocabulary
Use and encourage children to use the words contrast, different, and blend.
Directions
Before reading: Tell children that you’ll be reading the book Mouse Paint for a second time. This time ask them to think about why the cat can’t find the mice.
After you read: Talk about why the cat can’t find the mice.
- Show the first illustration. Say: Here are the white mice in the beginning of the story. The cat can’t find them. Why do you think the cat can’t find them? (They are on white paper and they are white, so the cat can’t see them.)
- Show the last illustration and read the last line: “But they left some white because of the cat.” Remind children that the mice have just painted their paper red, yellow, orange, blue, green, and purple. But they left part of the paper white. Ask, Why do you think the mice left part of the paper white?
- Then flip to some of the pages where the mice appear against colorful backgrounds. Ask, Do you think the cat would find them here? Why do you think the cat would find them? Point out that white against these colors is a contrasting, or different, color. That makes the mice stand out and easier to see. And easier for a hungry cat to see!
