Wordless Books

Colour of People

Mauricio Negro


This wordless picturebook features a single, non-gendered, face on every page. These faces are sometimes black, sometimes pink, sometimes blue and sometimes green. Through the use of these different skin tones, realistic or fantastical, the point is effectively made that people come in a huge range of shades.

Initial spread from Colour of People, showing virtual mirror images of two faces

Each pair of faces exhibits a particular expression or mood. Some are impassive, others are angry, scared, or surprised. A few are doing an action, such as eating a burger, blowing up a balloon, or taking their temperatures. One spread shows two faces wearing cool sunglasses (a play on the word ‘shades’ maybe?).

Spread from Colour of People, showing a black face and a blue face, possibly chilly from the driving rain in front of them

The final spread is particularly clever as it shows miniature, vari-coloured, human outlines overlapping and filling each face. The implication of this is that, historically, we are all made up from an enormous variety of genes from a wide range of peoples.

Spread from Colour of People, showing smiling faces wearing super-cool sunglasses