January's Book Pick is THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT, a picture book written by Drew Daywalt, and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.
When Duncan reaches for his box of crayons, a stack of handwritten letters greets him instead. One by one, the crayons vent their frustrations to him: Red works too hard, Purple doesn't like coloring outside of the lines, Beige feels misunderstood, Yellow and Orange argue over who is the REAL color of the sun, etc. Of course, Duncan wants his crayons to be happy, so he draws a new picture, which turns out to be a very creative solution.
Since virtually all children who read picture books will use crayons over and over as they grow up, this concept is a winning one--accessible to its audience and chock-full of potential for humor, which both Daywalt and Jeffers capitalize on. The voices and vendettas of the crayons seem right on target, and the illustrations play them up smartly. This seems like a natural to read aloud, with plenty of opportunities for voicing the ranting, whining, and beseeching of the crayons in fun and silly ways.
Share it with a kid you know!
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