The Blue Tomato
Amber Aü
Little Tiger

Blu is on his way to a new farm shop in town but on arrival he finds that he’s not like all the other tomatoes; he’s blue and they are all red although they don’t mind about the difference. However, Blu is determined to become red like all his fellow tomatoes and so having done a considerable amount of research work, he embarks on a project.

Next morning he sets off to see Spider who helpfully offers some of his red paint

but thanks to a downpour, this paint soon washes away.

On he goes until he encounters Ladybird. The red juice he receives fails to change Blu’s colour and he’s on the point of giving up when he hears a noise. It’s a group of friends enjoying themselves at the farmer’s market and each one is different from every other one and of course they are ready to accept Blu just as he is. Finally Blu feels he belongs and loves his natural blue colour.

There’s a vital message at the heart of this story: everyone is different and uniqueness is something to embrace and to celebrate.

Despite their seeming simplicity, Amber Aú’s illustrations capture superbly the loneliness of Blu when he feels an outsider and his delight at eventually accepting himself as he is.”It’s cool to be blue!” he cries. I love the way all the red tomatoes look different from each other if readers/listeners look closely.

A good book for sharing and discussing, perhaps in a Foundation Stage/ KS1 circle time.