The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

The Day the Crayons Quit

Drew Daywalt

Oliver Jeffers

Philomel

June 27, 2013

40 Pages

Picture book/Fiction

      I chose this book because I was looking for a fun way to introduce myself to the classroom at Constantine Elementary School. I am happy to say that this book was a huge hit with the children in the classroom and my cooperating teacher. They all love the book and the children were full of laughter and smiles. The Day the Crayons Quit is a cute story about the crayons in a box. The crayons had traits just like you and I. One day a student began to look for his crayons. Instead of crayons he found  letters written by the crayons. The letters stated things like I am bored, I am tiered, I am misunderstood. Some of the crayons had real problems and they were ready to let the child know. One of the crayons was upset and wanted to know why his paper was peeling off. So the crayons went on strike. But the story is really in the words that the crayons wrote before quitting and what the boy did to solve the problems.

     The illustrations in this book are amazing. All of the illustrations were done with crayons. The text part of the illustrations were written as though a child had done it. I can not imagine anything better than that. The pages were all very colorful and vivid. There were allot of  cool and warm greens, blues, reds and oranges used to create this masterpiece. The illustrations in the book could have told the story by themselves. The actual text that went along with illustrations shared the pages but the pictures took up most of the book.

     This book could be used to teach about point of view in a second and third grade class. So even the older kids could enjoy it. Another idea for the older children would be to teach how to write a persuasive letter. Students in kindergarten and first grade would absolutely love this book so it would be a shame to not use it in a lesson. These students could practice sequence and predicting what each color might say or do. There is an endless number of lessons this book could be used for. It is a must have in elementary school classrooms! This book is relatively new and has not received any awards.