A jewel of a book illustrated throughout in silhouette and colour by award-winning Ian Beck (Tom Trueheart). Pictures and words weave together to create a hymn to colour, light and life. Everything on the Island of Ashes is grey, from the weather to the castle, the grass and the flowers. But then the red boat arrives, and with it a young man who believes he is cursed - everything he touches turns to colour. Princess Opal and the people of the island are enchanted, but the King is suspicious and imprisons Wendell. Opal must find a way to escape to a life filled with love and colour.