A Taste of Colored Water

You could blame Abbey Finch.If she hadn't come back from town with tales of a fountain bubbling forth with "colored" water, LuLu and Jelly would not have needed to go see for themselves. But it's not Abbey's fault. It's the early 1960s and colored water isn't the fruit-flavored, Technicolor wonder that LuLu and Jelly are expecting. And having a drink doesn't come without a price.Celebrated author/illustrator Matt Faulkner combines colloquial, down-home storytelling and timeless images of pastoral America to create a thought-provoking account of what happens when the naive and whimsical imagination of a child is confounded by the reality of intolerance.Are you ready for a taste?

Matt Faulkner is a talented and clever picture-book maker whose dazzling ink and watercolor illustrations have graced dozens of well-loved picture books. On his inspiration for A Taste of Colored Water, he says, "When I was a boy it would've surprised me to learn that the word COLORED hung over a water fountain didn't mean that this was a magical place where fruit-flavored water flowed on demand." This story has grown out of his lifelong exploration of race and societal intolerance and the questions these institutions raise. His more recent work features several titles that focus on United States history, including Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson and You're on Your Way, Teddy Roosevelt by Judith St. George. He lives in Oakland, California, with his son.