Little Blue and Little Yellow is a children’s story book made by Leo Lionni. This book was published in 1959. Lionni originally developed this book from a story that he had made up as he went along to captivate and entertain his grandchildren during a train ride. Usually, he would draw pictures as he told various stories to his grandchildren, but on this particular train ride he had lacked the proper drawing materials to do so. With lack of better options, he tore yellow and blue circles out of a magazine to tell his story. The story was about an accidental encounter between a blue dot and a yellow dot. They had accidentally gotten stuck together and then needed to be torn apart or separated again. Little Blue and Little Yellow was a huge success amongst children and designers alike. It had also served as a catalyst to the creation of his other works. Soon he was writing and illustrating several more stories for children. This children’s book is significant as it is the first book Lionni had published that also kickstarted his career as a children’s book author and illustrator. It was also the first children’s book to use the collage technique as the main medium for illustrations that Lionni had become widely known for. This method would be later seen in a lot of his works and that of many others. Little Blue and Little Yellow would be awarded the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year award in 1959.

https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/deakinreview/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17093