- Picture Books
- Ages 2–6
- Art & Creativity
Mix It Up!
A joyful interactive colour-mixing book from the creator of Press Here. Ideal for toddlers and preschoolers learning colours, experimenting with art and enjoying books that respond to touch, imagination and movement.
- Best for2–6
- FormatPicture
- Length46 pp
- Read aloud~9 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Second person
- Repetitive
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Mix It Up! takes the interactive magic of Press Here and applies it to colour. Children are invited to tap, rub, smudge, shake and close the book to make colours appear to blend and transform. The result feels like a paint experiment without any mess, and the simplicity is part of the brilliance. Herve Tullet uses minimal marks, strong instructions and clever page turns to make children feel as though they are creating the colours themselves. It works as a playful first lesson in colour mixing, but also as a reminder that reading can be active, physical and collaborative. This is a high-value early-years concept book: excellent for nurseries, home art shelves, reluctant readers and children who prefer doing to sitting still.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 2–6
- Read aloud · 1–7
- Independent · 4–7
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Colour mixing
- Interactive picture book
- Toddlers
- Art play
- Screen free play
Avoid if
- Wants story arc
- Prefers realistic illustration
- Dislikes instruction books
Particularly good for children who are…
- Interested in art and creativity
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Starting nursery or preschool
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A magical interactive read-aloud about mixing colours — a joyful story-time hit and a hands-on intro to colour for art and early science.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the page seemingly reacting — tap, rub, shake, close the book and watch the colours change, the paint experiment without any mess. The picture book that lets a two-year-old feel like they're doing magic.
- Magic powers
- Making a difference
- Trickery and cleverness
Why parents love it
The Hervé Tullet companion to Press Here — interactive colour-mixing book, tap-and-tilt magic, page-turn experiments that look like the child made them happen. Useful first colour-theory book for toddlers, with no actual paint to clean up.
- Quick to read
- Shared humour
- Educational for adult too
- Bedtime appropriate
About the author & illustrator
Herve Tullet.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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