The Color Kittens The Color Kittens The Color Kittens is a children's book by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen published as part of the Little Golden Books series in 1949. The story revolves around two kittens, "Hush" and "Brush," who attempt to create green paint through mixing their other paints. Their attempts lead to a variety of different hues—none of them green. The book's famous catch phrase is "Blue is blue, and red is red! They still need green!" Children's book author and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky, for whom the book was a childhood favorite and inspiration, said that,
On Vision and Colors darken into black. If the remainder is only partially inactive, then the color loses its energy by mixing with gray. If the activity of the retina is divided without a remainder, or if the remainder is active, then a color and its spectrum (afterimage) are bright or pale. When such a color and its spectrum are united, then the eye sees pure light or white. For example, the mixture of bright or pale red and green on the same retinal spot results in the impression there of light or white. White cannot be produced by mixing colored pigments. With colors