New Day for Umwell the Gray, A

William lives in a glum world. His moods and his thoughts are gray. Even most of his clothes are gray. But a girl named Purple appears one gray morning, the only dash of color in William’s otherwise dull yard. She asks his name, and when he answers “Um, well…,” she dubs him Umwell the Gray, then pulls him into an exploration of a world that is always new and exciting when seen through her eyes—a parallel universe to the one William has been inhabiting. This powerful picture book provides an occasion and vehicle to pull kids away from video screens and into closer contact with the natural world around them and the imaginative worlds within.