The Day The Crayons Quit

by

Drew Daywalt

 

 

Duncan opens his box of crayons at school one day to find a bundle of letters written to him by none other than his crayons. In each letter, a different, distraught crayon explains its hurt feelings and frustration at how it is being misused, overused, or underused. This crisis in the crayon box is playful and imaginative. Readers of all ages will laugh as the individual personality of each crayon emerges through each letter.

 

Mr. Daywalt’s debut book is loved by readers and reviewers. Amazon’s reviewers gave it an average of 4.5 with over 950 reviews. It has over 6,700 ratings on goodreads.com. It is a 2014 American Library Association Notable Book, as well as Amazon’s choice for Best Picture Book of 2013.

 

Oliver Jeffers is an accomplished author and illustrator, having won numerous awards before his collaboration with Mr. Daywalt. How he uses simple dots and lines to convey the different emotions felt by each crayon is terrific! This leads to the Reading Comprehension Best Practice for this book: Visualizing. Mr. Jeffers has done a great job of visualizing the concerns of each crayon. Each illustration shows us the evidence of the specific complaints expressed by each crayon as if these are specific drawings done by Duncan. Each time your child and you color, the memory of the humorous text by Drew Daywalt and the perfect illustrations by Oliver Jeffers will come back to you, igniting your creativity and enjoyment.

 

You have twelve letters to read. You might not get through all of the letters in a single story time, as your listener and you discuss each letter, illustration, and your personal remedies to the concerns of each crayon. You will want to discuss the friendly letter style that each crayon uses. Look at the opening and closing of each letter. Each crayon is upset, but wants Duncan to know that this is a letter sent friend to friend.

 

How does Duncan solve all of his friends’ problems? “When Duncan showed his new picture to his teacher, she gave him……..” Read this great story to enjoy a clever ending that leads to great engagement with your listener’s imagination!