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SHARED By: Katherine Grier, Librarian at York Avenue Preschool 

It’s back to school time and this month I have chosen to review school-subject picture books. Not to worry, there are no dry textbook narratives or rote lessons in this group. Each book features drawing, numbers, the alphabet, punctuation, reading or writing in a really fun, engaging and creative way.  All are perfect for bedtime reading, library story hour and yes, even great educational supplements too.  I hope you enjoy them and have a great start to your school year. 

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
Books containing hand-written correspondence are popular in our house. Bunny Mail by Rosemary Wells and Silvericious by Victoria Kahn are long-standing favorites of my daughter Ruth, and I predict that this new letter-based picture book is destined for a place on our (and your) top ten favorites list as well. At the start of the book, a boy named Duncan goes to get his crayons only to find they have quit the crayon box and left a bunch of colorfully scrawled notes behind in their place. Each succeeding page of the book contains a letter from a different crayon expressing how that crayon feels about Duncan’s use of him or her in Duncan’s drawings and coloring books. Red and gray are overworked, pink is under-utilized, green is happy but concerned about yellow and orange who are arguing over who is the true color of the sun, and peach is wrapper-less and embarrassed to be naked.

The content of the crayons’ letters are very clever, but it is Oliver Jeffers’ illustrations of Duncan’s artwork and of the crayons themselves that steal the show.  Jeffers’ art is playful and whimsical. He gives the crayons huge personalities with just a few simple line strokes for eyes, mouths and arms. His renditions of Duncan’s artwork are convincingly childlike, but also richly detailed. The illustration of Duncan’s A-winning picture at the end of the story is superb. With a pink dinosaur, orange whale and black rainbow and much more, it has everything to make all Duncan’s crayons and all readers very happy.

The Day the Crayons Quit is loads of fun. It begs to be read aloud and you should have plenty of paper on hand for individual coloring projects afterward.  It is most appropriate for ages 4 and up. For the 3 and under crowd, I recommend My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard. It is a similar book with an equally colorful look at crayons, personality and creativity.