Module 6: The Day the Crayons Quit

Book Summary:

The Day the Crayons Quit is about the day Duncan sat down to draw and found letters from his crayons explaining their feelings and what they want done differently. There are crayons who feel like they aren’t used enough like black, white, and pink. There are the red, gray, and blue crayons who feel they are overused. The blue crayon specifically feels he’s the favorite and would like a break. Then there is the dispute between the orange and the yellow crayon over who is the color of the sun. Several other crayons write to Duncan expressing their feelings as well. In the end, Duncan creates a picture in an attempt to accommodate the wants and desires of all his crayons.

APA Reference of Book:

Daywalt, D. (2013). The day the crayons quit. New York: The Penguin Group.

Impressions:

This was a humorous and unexpected story about crayons. Never before have I heard from the crayons perspective and it made such an interesting story. The illustrations help bring the story alive and are quite entertaining. Through the perfectly childlike drawings, the reader is drawn in to the authenticity. It feels like you are reading letters from crayons with the accompanying proof of real children’s drawings. Even the front and back covers make you want to read the book. The tagline on the back cover of the book, "The Battle Lines Have Been Drawn", also adds to the interest. While some reviewers felt the letters to be tedious, I felt they were enjoyable. My teenage son also enjoyed the entire story. I feel it’s a true sign of an interesting and engaging story when a teenage boy loves the story. This is definitely a book I will read again and will use in the classroom.

Professional Review:

Duncan wants to draw, but instead of crayons, he finds a stack of letters listing the crayons’ demands in this humorous tale.

Red is overworked, laboring even on holidays. Gray is exhausted from coloring expansive spaces (elephants, rhinos and whales). Black wants to be considered a color-in color, and Peach? He’s naked without his wrapper! This anthropomorphized lot amicably requests workplace changes in hand-lettered writing, explaining their work stoppage to a surprised Duncan. Some are tired, others underutilized, while a few want official titles. With a little creativity and a lot of color, Duncan saves the day. Jeffers delivers energetic and playful illustrations, done in pencil, paint and crayon. The drawings are loose and lively, and with few lines, he makes his characters effectively emote. Clever spreads, such as Duncan’s “white cat in the snow” perfectly capture the crayons’ conundrum, and photographic representations of both the letters and coloring pages offer another layer of texture, lending to the tale’s overall believability.

A comical, fresh look at crayons and color. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews.  (2013, April 15). [Review of The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/drew-daywalt/day-crayons-quit/.

Library Uses:

The Day the Crayons Quit could be used in the library by once the story is read aloud to groups of students, they will then contribute to a school wide mural. The requirement is that students color things in the mural in nontraditional ways as done in the book by Duncan. Students will be given examples and shown the end product in the book for help. The final mural product will be hung in the library for all students to view.