Module 6: The Day the Crayons Quit

Book Summary: The book is about a child's crayons that one day decide to petition and complain about how they are either overworked or underused.

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

Impressions: The Day the Crayons Quit is a humorous look at anthropomorphic crayons who feel fed up with their current situations. Most of the crayons feel either over- or under- worked. Some of them, interestingly, become fed up with each other and request help to get the other crayons to stop complaining or bickering. The book is a fun take on why a child's plaything would get upset like people would. Each crayon has its own personality that matches its color and why it would be disgruntled. This is definitely a book to recommend for elementary-aged kids.

Professional Review: Although the crayons in this inventive catalogue stop short of quitting, most feel disgruntled. The rank and file express their views in letters written to a boy, Duncan. Red complains of having to “work harder than any of your other crayons” on fire trucks and Santas; a beige crayon declares, “I’m tired of being called ‘light brown’ or ‘dark tan’ because I am neither.” White feels “empty” from Duncan’s white-on-white coloring, and a “naked” Peach wails, “Why did you peel off my paper wrapping?” Making a noteworthy debut, Daywalt composes droll missives that express aggravation and aim to persuade, while Jeffers’s (This Moose Belongs to Me) crayoned images underscore the waxy cylinders’ sentiments: each spread features a facsimile of a letter scrawled, naturally, in the crayon’s hue; a facing illustration evidences how Duncan uses the crayon, as in a picture of a giant elephant, rhino, and hippo (Gray laments, “That’s a lot of space to color in all by myself”). These memorable personalities will leave readers glancing apprehensively at their own crayon boxes. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Jeff Dwyer, Dwyer & O’Grady. (June)

Publishers Weekly. (2013). The Day the Crayons Quit (Book). [Review of the book The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt]. Publishers Weekly, 44.

Library Uses: This book could be used in conjunction with a lesson to humanize other inanimate objects and talk about what they might complain or be upset about.