American-Ghanaian author and poet Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond has released a new children’s book. It is titled Blue: A History of the Color As Deep As The Sea and As Wide As the Sky. It was published on February 15th by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

When you think of the color blue, what comes to your mind? Many people think about sadness while others may think of bodies of water and ocean life. Blue traces the way the color has journeyed across time and place to come to mean a variety of different things to different people. From sapphire in Ancient Afghan to indigo in America, the book explores historical significance of the color blue, as well as explains the science behind the color and its diverse cultural meanings.

In an interview with NPR Brew-Hammond discusses the process of writing the book and shares details about the places and events central to the history of the color and the importance of documenting this history to children:

There’s so many ideas attached to [the color blue],” says Brew-Hammond. “Tracing those things back to some of these histories was really interesting and profound to me. They didn’t just come out of nowhere. They are anchored in… historic realities that we’re living with that we don’t even realize.