The Day the Crayons Quit

Genre:

    The Day the Crayons Quit picture book won the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2015.

Target Age Group:

    The target age group is 3-7 years.

Summary:

    The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt is an epistolary picture book filled with humor and is a very imaginative tale on what it is like to be a crayon. One day, a young boy named Duncan, opens his box of crayons while at school to discover his crayons have written letters to him. The crayons are concerned about Duncan's use or lack of use of their particular color.

Justification:

    The title, The Day the Crayons Quit compelled me to think when I first read it, why would crayons be quitting? How would they do this and what caused them to feel this way? This picture book led me on a very comical and creative journey into the trials and tribulations of a box of crayons.

Evaluation:

    For this review, I will be evaluating the plot, pacing, and illustrations of the story. The illustrations, which were drawn by Oliver Jeffers, connects the young reader to the story in a colorful, unaffected, and imaginative way. The crayons write their letters on pieces of paper that can be found in a classroom. The color of each crayon is represented not only in the individual letters and drawings but also by an explosion of color toward the final pages of this delightful book.

    The plot of this wildly imaginative story has a box of crayons complaining over their worth when Duncan is using them for an art assignment in school. It surprises Duncan that his crayons took the initiative to make him recognize how he should use each one in the future. A colorful solution will unfold but not until each crayon hilariously informs Duncan why they were even thinking of quitting in the first place.

    The quick pacing of this particular children's book induces the young reader to want to turn to the next page without a moment's hesitation. There is a certain rhythm set by the length of the crayons' letters written to Duncan. The letters are close to being equal in length and gives the reader a sense of the timing on how the book will proceed. The Day the Crayons Quit is a gift to readers, no matter what their age may be.

Citation:

Daywalt, D. (2015). The Day the Crayons Quit (O. Jeffers, Illus.). Philomel Books.