Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World With Color

Filippo is a flamingo who has beautiful pink feathers. But, apparently, Zac the zebra and Poncho the panda are not fans of the PINK color. They claim that pink gives people headaches and that it is a color for crying babies and fussy princesses. With a broken heart and the desire to fit into the black-and-white circle, Filippo tries to paint himself with black dots and stripes – but it doesn’t work. Filippo’s all-pink family members kindly show him the beauty of pink, but he still feels a wishful longing for a friend. Just then, Ludo the lemur who has been watching all day steps in and encourages Filippo to embrace the wonderfulness pink brings to the world, along with their flourishing new friendship.

Good children’s picture books do not lecture. Big ideas are embedded in interesting, cheerful, easy-to-read-and-understand stories. Through a simple story, Andrée Poulin, the award-winning author of more than thirty books for children, reveals to young children the importance of accepting yourself even when you feel different as well as the value of true friendship which empowers you to see the beauty of the world. Readers’ hearts sink and rise with Filippo’s experience and emotions. Like the title indicates, readers will feel tickled pink reading to the end.

Illustrator Lucile Danis Drouot starts with highlighting just the flamingos with a warm pink color in a black-and-white world. As Filippo’s journey in search of goes on, the pages become more and more colorful and finally burst into a magnificent sunset with vibrant colors when Filippo finds both himself and a true friend.

The story can be interpreted in several ways, depending on the readers. Maybe you come from a minority group and sometimes struggle with identity and belonging; maybe you are an introvert who tries very hard to put yourself out there and socialize with peers; maybe you have different interests than others around you and feel out of place every now and then. Anyone who has the feeling of “not fitting in”, whether constantly or occasionally, will see themselves in Filippo.

Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World With Color, a heartwarming and delightful read on a serious topic, is beautifully illustrated and well-written in delivering a positive message to young children. It would make an excellent addition to libraries, schools and family collections.