Picture books, as a genre, are helpful in the early stages of reading. True to its genre, the book, I Love Grey, with its full page and sometimes double-spread illustrations and short sentences, gives ample space for imagination and reading practice. The text is simple, with some repetition—the phrase, ‘I love’—appears on each page, qualifying it further for a beginner’s reading book. A concept book of sorts, it mentions a lot of colours, while connecting them to everyday incidents, objects and even feelings, in the life of a 5-6-year-old child.
Canato Jimo is an illustrator from Nagaland, who sometimes writes as well. He says he visualizes his stories and then balances it with text. Canato says in an interview that he loves the use of white spaces and this shows clearly in this book. A lot is left to the imagination of the reader and children have the option of filling up the space mentally and physically.