Module 5: The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit

Book Summary:

This story begins with a boy named Duncan who one day receives a bunch of letters from his crayons that are filled with complaints.  They either feel overworked or mistreated in one way or another.  Black crayon is tired of only being used to only color the outlines of objects, blue is upset because he is short and stubby from being used so much, white is mad because he is only used to color on white paper, orange and yellow have stopped speaking to one another because they believe they cannot agree on which one should be used to color the sun, and poor peach is naked!  After Duncan reads each letter from his crayons, he has an idea to make a beautiful picture that incorporates all of the crayons suggestions and advice.         

APA Reference of Book:

Daywalt, D. (2013). The day the crayons quit. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Impressions:

This book is such a fun read!  All of the crayons within the book make an excellent case for why they have decided to quit.  Peach crayon is certainly my personal favorite!  I’ll forever think of this story each time one of my students begin to peel the wrapper of a crayon.  I also really enjoy the creativity that this book encourages through certain colors.  For example, using black crayon to color a black beach ball or using pink to color a monster or dinosaur.  Most of my kindergarten students begin the year with wanting to only use one color in a picture.  This book could help encourage these students to use a variety of color in their drawings and illustrations.      

Professional Review:

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

6-9 yrs- “One day in class, Duncan went to take out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them.” What follows is a hilarious epistolary tale wherein each crayon, in childlike printing on lined paper, shares something with Duncan. Some feel overworked (“Gray crayon here. You’re KILLING ME! I know you love Elephants. And I know that elephants are gray . . . but that’s a LOT of space to color in all by myself”), some feel underappreciated (writes Beige Crayon, “The only things I get are turkey dinners (if I’m lucky) and wheat, and let’s be honest—when was the last time you saw a kid excited about coloring wheat?”). Some crayons are caught up in disputes (Orange Crayon and Yellow Crayon both insist they are the true color of the sun, as evidenced by pages from coloring books that Duncan completed), while others have entirely unique issues (“It’s me, PEACH CRAYON. Why did you peel off my paper wrapping?? Now I’m NAKED and too embarrassed to leave the crayon box”). Each spread includes a reproduction of the actual letter (written in crayon, of course) on the verso, facing an appropriate composition such as a childlike crayon drawing or a colored-in page from a coloring book. The crayons themselves, with deceptively simple line and dot faces, are rich in emotion and character, and it’s entertaining to consider each crayon’s representation in light of the voice in its letter. While potential lessons in inference, point of view, and persuasive writing abound in the crayons’ letters, this is guaranteed to see just as much use for being just plain fun. Move over, Click, Clack, Moo (BCCB 9/00); we’ve got a new contender for most successful picture-book strike.

Source:

Morrison, H. (2013). The day the crayons quit [Review of the book The day the crayons quit,

by D. Daywalt]. Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 67(1), 13-14. doi: 10.1353/bcc.2013.0542

Found through UNT’s Library Database- Project Muse

Library Uses:

Ironically, the following idea came from the Educator’s Guide for this book.  Within the guide are several activities, but the one that stuck out the most to me was titled “Color Your School or Library.”  This activity allows all of the students within the school to color a school wide mural.  As the books suggest, the students can use colors in a non-traditional such as a black rainbow, a pink dinosaur, etc. (Burinescu, n.d., p.4).  The librarian could read the book to each class as they visit the library and then give students time to create a part of the moral.  Afterwards, the librarian could display the mural in the library.  This would help provide unity and build the community within the school.    

Reference

Burinescu, A. (n.d.) An educator’s guide to the day the crayons quit and the day the crayons

came home. Retrieved from http://www.crayonspicturebooks.com/assets/pdf/CrayonsGuide.pdf