A Most Delightful Children’s Book

In days of yore (read that to mean when I was a kid in the Mesozoic era…) we had books about Dick and Jane.

Yawn.

It’s amazing that we learned how to read with such un-exciting books.

It’s astonishing that some kids even grew to love reading despite those pathetically boring books early in our reading lives.

I’m thrilled that the picture books of today are so vastly different.

They have humor.

They are clever.

The illustrations are witty and pretty.

In the olden days, many books for kids had the personality of pressed sawdust.

Today, they sparkle. They twirl in circles and dance a jig. They giggle and guffaw. And (and this is a HUGE and), they appeal to adults who have to read them over and over and over to their children.

My  youngest son loved the book Are You My Mother? I lost track of how many times I read it to him. I almost lost my mind . . . I got to where I dreaded it if he pulled it off the shelf. I would rather have bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails that read that book to him.

The children’s book that I want to tell you about today, is the total opposite. Totally. I believe I could read this book 10 times a day for 10 months in a row and not get tired of it.

That book is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.

Little Duncan goes to pull out his crayons to color only to find a stack of letters that the crayons wrote to him.

They are sick and tired of how they are being used — or not being used.

Red is distraught because he has to work so hard coloring all of the fire engines, apples, strawberries, Santas, and Valentines.

Beige is peeved to play second fiddle to Mr. Brown Crayon.

Gray is frustrated that he has to color such big things like elephants, humpbacked whales, rhinos, and hippos. Couldn’t he color simple pebbles instead?

Then there’s yellow and orange. They aren’t speaking to each other. They both believe that they are the true color for the sun.

Each color has a valid reason for being upset and for going on strike. But what is Duncan to do? He wants to color.

Lucky for you, I’m not going to spoil things and tell you the ending. You’ll have to read it yourself.

Better yet, read it to a grandchild.

The Day the Crayons Quit was on the New York Times Bestseller list for 55 weeks.

Why, I ask you, am I just barely learning about this book?

How do you spell slow?

Well!

This children’s book would be a delightful addition to your own personal library to read to your grandchildren when they come over. Or, it would be a wonderful Christmas or birthday gift for a grandchild.

But don’t stop at just getting the book. Print up the crossword puzzle for your grandchild to do.

Maybe you and your grandchild could write your own ‘I quit’ letters about your crayons.

Maybe you could identify the color in your crayon box that is neglected — and then draw a picture using that crayon.

You could make a batch of crayon cookies.

Or print up some coloring pages and then color them.

Whatever you decide to do, be sure that you spend plenty of time snuggling and reading the book together!