- Picture Books
- Ages 3–6
- Everyday Life
The Colour Monster
A hugely useful emotions picture book that helps young children separate and name feelings through colour. Best for preschool and early primary emotional literacy, big-feelings conversations and gentle classroom or bedtime support.
- Best for3–6
- FormatPicture
- Length48 pp
- Read aloud~10 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Repetitive
Tone
- Gentle
- Warm
- Heartwarming
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The Colour Monster wakes up feeling confused because all his emotions are mixed together. With the help of a small girl, he learns to sort them out: yellow for happiness, blue for sadness, red for anger, black for fear, green for calm and pink for love. Anna Llenas uses collage-style illustration and bold colour associations to make emotions concrete for young children. The book is direct and educational, but the monster character keeps it playful rather than clinical. It has become a staple for nurseries, schools and homes because adults can easily use it to ask children what they are feeling and why. It is an essential social-emotional record: not the most subtle literary picture book, but exceptionally practical, visually memorable and valuable for children who need help naming inner states.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 3–6
- Read aloud · 3–7
- Independent · 5–7
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
5 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Emotional literacy
- Big feelings
- Colour concepts
- Nursery and school
- Comfort book
Avoid if
- Wants subtle literary story
- Wants fast action
- Prefers no message books
Particularly good for children who are…
- Anger management
- Anxiety and worry
- Starting school
- Starting nursery or preschool
- Low self esteem
- Neurodiversity or learning differences
In the classroom
How it works in school.
The much-loved picture book that sorts big feelings into colours — a go-to PSHE read-aloud for naming and talking about emotions.
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 use is sorting — a three-year-old gets to literally watch tangled-up feelings become separate, named, coloured things in jars. The book that gives small children their first vocabulary for what's actually going on inside them. Repeats well; works at any age between two and five.
- Being understood finally
- Friendship and belonging
- Transformation
Why parents love it
The picture book that teaches a small child to name their feelings — yellow for happy, blue for sad, red for angry, with no preaching attached. Used in nearly every UK Reception classroom for exactly this reason. The book to reach for when a child is melting down and you both need words for it.
- Conversation starter
- Educational for adult too
- Bedtime appropriate
- Quick to read
About the author & illustrator
Anna Llenas.
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.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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