This interview originally appeared in the January/February 2022 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Diverse Books Spotlight, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a chance to each highlight a book from its current list. They choose the books; we ask the questions.

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For Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond’s survey of the multicultural origins and ­history of a color, illustrator Daniel Minter found all the shades of Blue.

1. My favorite “blue” song is Lucinda Williams’s “Blue.” What’s yours?

One favorite is by Imani Uzuri, called “Indigo,” on the album Her Holy Water: A Black Girl’s Rock Opera. It has this great line: “Everybody wants to sing my blues…but don’t nobody want to walk in these shoes!” My other favorite is by Cassandra Wilson, “Blue Light ’til Dawn.”

2. And your favorite shade?

My favorite shade is phthalo blue; I use it in just about every painting. The color is very rich and saturated, with tints that can lean toward purple. There is also a tint that leans slightly toward green — I use this color to represent the deepest darks within the night sky, the ancient depths of the oceans, and the rich, vibrant hues reflected in the blackness of our skin.

3. What was the most amazing fact you discovered in illustrating this book?

I had known of the snail secretions that were used to make the color blue, but I was fascinated to learn the Phoenician myth of its being discovered when a dog ate the snail, turning its tongue blue. The folklore combined with the biological attributes discovered through careful observation is what appeals to me.

4. Do you have a favorite image or spread?

One of my favorites is the woman singing the blues with the tiny women made from her hair wailing the blues out of her head. I also love the ones with hands reaching to catch the blue of the sky and scoop up the blue of the sea.

5. Why do you think the color blue is used to symbolize so many different (and sometimes contradictory!) feelings?

We are surrounded by blue from above and below. It changes before our eyes each day, from soft morning glow to magenta and purple-streaked indigo as it turns to night. It is the color of dawn dreams and days lost.

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