The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit

Author: Drew Daywalt

Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers

Genre: Fantasy

Major Awards: Texas Bluebonnet Award, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Book

Grade Level: Pre-K-2

Summary: This clever and humorous book is about a boy named Duncan and his crayons. When he went to open his crayons up in class, he was met with a big stack of letters. Each crayon in the box wrote their grievances to Duncan. The blue crayon was sad because he was so short from being used so often (he was Duncan's favorite color), the yellow and orange crayons were in a big argument about who was the true color of the sun, and the pink crayon was upset because she was never used. At the end of the story, Duncan decides to draw a picture that incorporates all of the crayons and meet their individual needs.

Evaluation: I have not read this book before, but I am so glad I finally got to. It was such a fun read and left a lot up to the imagination, such as the voices of the different crayons as well as how Duncan would solve the issue. I would love to have this book in my classroom.

I think this book is perfect for younger grades because it provides a very kid-friendly story, colorful and fun illustrations, and will help scaffold their vocabulary. It would be a good readaloud for any age, but especially for young children because it shows them how they can use their imagination to create stories or make everyday items come alive.

This book has a lot of potential lesson-wise. It can be used to teach personification, how to write letters, or even naming colors for very small children. I'm sure there are even more ideas for lessons out there on teacher blogs.