The Day the Crayons Quit Hardcover – June 27, 2013

I don't want to be a complainer here but I just have to say that the curiosity of a 3 year old has limits and for some reason those limits require reading the same book over and over and over and over again. Which is great if the book you're reading is one of the good ones but horrible if it's lousy.

What's that dear, you can't find the Daniel Tiger books? That's because I used them to light the fire used to heat all the food you dropped on the floor during dinner and then fed it to your little sister because, as you know, we don't waste food around here. Ahem, I mean, that's weird sweetie, I'm sure we'll find them.

Some books deserve to be read umpteen times, some books are a disgraceful capitalistic ploy with no redeeming qualities. Coming off of an evening of one too many Elmo books (which means 1 Elmo book if you're keeping track), I vowed to find something funny, intelligent and fun to read. A book that my daughter would request without causing a 10 minute back and forth about how "we should really try reading this other, much better book that you are really going to love." A book that would make me say, "of course we can read that book dear, and might I add, excellent choice."

Well that's what you get with The Day The Crayons Quit. This is a book by which all other kids books should be judged. This is a book that knows its audience isn't only your little angel but also the people who are reading to your little angel. And that is what makes this book so brilliant. No matter your age, you will identify with the characters, they will probably remind you of your family, your coworkers and your friends.

This book is in my top 10 books to read to my daughter. Lucky for me, she feels the same way.

In case you're wondering, some of my other favorites are: The Three Little Pigs, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Small Pig, Where the Wild Things Are, I Want My Hat Back, Pete The Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, We're Going on A Bear Hunt, The Cat in the Hat

I read this book to my 5-year-old daughter and when we got to the end she asked me to read it again. When I got to the end of the second reading she announced she had an idea about drawing "live crayons like in the book" and embarked on a project of drawing different color crayons with colored wardrobes to match and made a "dress the crayons" game out of it. She loves to have books read to her, but this is one of the only times my short-attention-span kid has asked for the same book twice in a row and the first time a book as inspired such a burst of creativity.

This book would be great for all sorts of ages: from very little kids who will like the idea of the talking crayons and the cute illustrations, to much older kids who will find the crayon's witty banter and creative complaints extremely funny.

This is going to be my new gift for everything from baby showers to birthdays to Christmas! Don't hesitate to order this one, your kids will want to hear it over and over.

We'd purchased this cute little book for our youngest grandson's second birthday about seven months ago and, according to my daughter-in-law, it's a book that's been pulled out almost every day since! It centers around a creative youngster named Duncan, who solves his crayons' complaints by thinking "outside of the BOX" (pun intended!), and our two older grandsons both enjoy reading it to their younger brother. In this book, that box happens to be full of crayons who don't actually quit, but do have a list of grievances they present to their owner, who comes up with a very inventive solution to get the result HE wants (to be able to color with crayons who are in agreeable moods!) by providing them what THEY need (to be used in more ways than their shades would stereotypically be used for.) The letters the crayons have written to their owner are hilarious, and having each separate letter written on the left side of the spread in a child's handwriting, with the right side showing a child-like drawing of objects that shade is typically used to color, is a sure-fire way to immediately draw a youngster in. Nice collaborative effort by author and illustrator!

Our older grandsons have a lot of fun voicing the letters written by "Red", who even has to work on holidays (i.e. coloring Santas, Valentines), "Purple" is going to "completely lose it" if Duncan doesn't start coloring inside of the lines soon, "Beige" (who is "BEIGE and PROUD!") is jealous of "Brown", "Gray" is tired of getting all of the BIG jobs (like coloring elephants, rhinos, hippos and HUMPBACK WHALES), "White" is feeling underutilized, "Black" doesn't find it fair that he's only used as an outline to brightly colored objects, "Green" is a peacemaker type (or a tattle tale, depending upon your outlook!), who claims to be very happy with his work, congratulates Duncan on his coloring career, but wants to inform him of the bickering between "Yellow" and "Orange" over who gets to be the color of the sun, with "Yellow" and "Orange" writing separate letters each stating their case along with documented proof, "Blue" is overworked and now just a stub who can't even see over the box railing any longer, "Pink" believes she's experiencing discrimination because she's "a girls' color", while "Peach" is completely unwrapped ("I don't even have any underwear!") and embarrassed to leave the box. Wow - what a conundrum! But the amazingly colorful picture Duncan creates - allowing each crayon to stretch beyond their typical usages - ends up earning him an A for coloring and an A+ for creativity!

Speaking both as a mom and now a grandma, I've come to believe that one of the most important things an adult can do for their children/grandchildren is to strongly encourage them to be creative and use their imaginations. Whether he/she eventually becomes an astrophysicist, a police officer, a stay-at-home mom or dad, etc., EVERY occupation requires the use of those mental tools when called upon to problem-solve and come up with solutions. How many bosses out there couldn't learn a thing or two from Duncan? Excellent little book that youngsters are going to really enjoy... and that adults can take a lesson from as well.

Such a fun book! I have such a blast reading this to my son. The book teaches little ones the importantance of sharing and playing fairly in such a funny way. Great for an introvert parent with a sense of humor...maybe some passive aggressiveness... Since you know, the crayons quit. It's fun to read this with different voices after a long day. (Storybook nanny on YouTube has a video of this book being read if you want to try before you buy)

I am not ashamed to admit it, I'm 41 yrs old and just purchased this book...for myself! I work at a library and when this book came in every person who read/looked at this book said they were going to purchase this book for either a child, or children in the family, or for themselves! I can't say enough good things about this book, do yourself a favor buy it! You'll smile and laugh and love it each time you read it!