Buy new:

$9.19

List Price: $17.99

Save: $8.80 (49%)

FREE Shipping on your first order. Details

Arrives: July 12 - 15

Fastest delivery: Wednesday, July 8 Details

In Stock.
As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.

Secure transaction

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$12.72
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: Pep Books

Add to Cart

$8.75
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Excellent Books to You

Add to Cart

$9.00
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: SLIGHT Same Day Shipping

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 5 images

Follow the Authors

Drew Daywalt

Oliver Jeffers

The Day the Crayons Quit Hardcover – June 27, 2013

by Drew Daywalt (Author), Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)

6,718 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$9.19

$5.00

$3.46

Paperback

"Please retry"

$14.83

$11.50

Board book

"Please retry"

$15.56

$15.55

$15.04

Handpicked by Amazon kids’ books editor, Seira Wilson, for Prime Book Box – a children’s subscription that inspires a love of reading.

Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun.

What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?

Kids will be imagining their own humorous conversations with crayons and coloring a blue streak after sharing laughs with Drew Daywalt and New York Times bestseller Oliver Jeffers. This story is perfect as a back-to-school gift, for all budding artists, for fans of humorous books such as Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith, and for fans of Oliver Jeffers' Stuck, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Lost and Found, and This Moose Belongs to Me.

Praise for The Day the Crayons Quit

Amazon’s 2013 Best Picture Book of the Year

A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2013

Goodreads’ 2013 Best Picture Book of the Year

Winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award

* “Hilarious . . . Move over, Click, Clack, Moo; we’ve got a new contender for the most successful picture-book strike.” –BCCB, starred review

“Jeffers . . . elevates crayon drawing to remarkable heights.” –Booklist

“Fresh and funny.” –The Wall Street Journal

"This book will have children asking to have it read again and again.” –Library Media Connection

* “This colorful title should make for an uproarious storytime.” –School Library Journal, starred review

* “These memorable personalities will leave readers glancing apprehensively at their own crayon boxes.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Utterly original.” –San Francisco Chronicle

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Drew Daywalt

1,827

Hardcover
$12.02
Adam Rubin

3,881

Hardcover
$9.50
Suzanne Lang

2,803

Hardcover
$10.62
Drew Daywalt

333

Hardcover
$6.39
Drew Daywalt

75

Board book
$15.59
Drew Daywalt

142

Board book
$7.59

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Children's Book of 2013: The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt’s clever story of a box of crayons gone rogue will get the whole family laughing at the letters written by the occupants of the ubiquitous yellow and green box. The combination of text and Oliver Jeffers' illustrations match the colors' personalities beautifully as the crayons share their concern, appreciation, or downright frustration: yellow and orange demand to know the true color of the sun, while green--clearly the people pleaser of the bunch--is happy with his workload of crocodiles, trees, and dinosaurs. Peach crayon wants to know why his wrapper was torn off, leaving him naked and in hiding; blue is exhausted and, well, worn out; and pink wants a little more paper time. The result of this letter writing campaign is colorful creativity and after reading this book I will never look at crayons the same way again--nor would I want to. ---Seira Wilson

From Booklist

Duncan’s crayons are on strike. One morning he opens his desk looking for them and, in their place, finds a pack of letters detailing their grievances, one crayon at a time. Red is tired. Beige is bored. Black is misunderstood. Peach is naked! The conceit is an enticing one, and although the crayons’ complaints are not entirely unique (a preponderance centers around some variation of overuse), the artist’s indelible characterization contributes significant charm. Indeed, Jeffers’ ability to communicate emotion in simple gestures, even on a skinny cylinder of wax, elevates crayon drawing to remarkable heights. First-class bookmaking, with clean design, ample trim size, and substantial paper stock, adds to the quality feel. A final spread sees all things right, as Duncan fills a page with bright, delightful imagery, addressing each of the crayons’ issues and forcing them into colorful cooperation. Kids who already attribute feelings to their playthings will never look at crayons the same way again. Grades K-3. --Thom Barthelmess

Age Range: 3 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 2
Lexile Measure: AD730L (What's this?)
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Philomel Books; 1st edition (June 27, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399255370
ISBN-13: 978-0399255373
Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 0.4 x 10.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 6,718 customer ratings
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Children's Colors Books
- #19 in Children's Emotions Books
- #2 in Children's Art Fiction

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?

If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Start reading The Day the Crayons Quit on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Customer reviews

5 star		88%
4 star		6%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

How does Amazon calculate star ratings?

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jared

Alrighty now listen up

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

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

698 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Not good messaging for kids

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

The book is "cute" and mildly humorous. However, I was quite unhappy with the messages that it sent to kids. The crayons complain about being used too much, and -- worse from my point of view -- kids are admonished for not coloring within the lines. I prefer books for kids that foster creativity, not begin to stifle it from a very young age.

87 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Grandma ZizzyTop Contributor: Baby

Here's a book that hasn't seen too many days just sitting on the bookshelf!

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

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.

75 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Cathy

Great book! I want the rest of the series

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

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)

27 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Amazon Customer

Prompt

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

Granddaughter favorite

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Bride2be

Didn’t need a naked crayon without underwear

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

I laughed a few times. It had cute moments.

Cons: became a bit redundant with almost every page being a letter of complaint from a disgruntled crayon.

I am always dismayed when it comes to children’s books and their handlings of issues like boundaries and nudity etc.

Did the author have to talk about a naked crayon not wearing underwear?

With the awareness of what’s happened to so many children throughout the years- with regards to abuse- I just feel like comical or flippant approach to nudity and boundaries is just kind of irresponsible.

Fine he’s a nude crayon bc the jacket or label is off. But do we need to address lack of underwear?

Just weird and not appropriate for a kids book in my opinion.

Coloring outside the lines should not be discouraged as is done in this book. Kids should be left to decide what constitutes good/bad art. There are no rules with that.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

linda

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Love it

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Educator4Life

She had lots of fun!

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

I purchased this book for American Education Week. My daughter dressed as the pink crayon for storybook character day. She had lots of fun!

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Top international reviews

Terri Hardwick

Gender stereotyping at its worst!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

I read this book once and won't read it again. My main reason is that pink is my two year old son's favourite colour and when you get to the letter from the pink crayon it goes on about the emphasis of pink being purely a girls colour for girly things. Way way behind the times and damaging! The letters are very sarcastic and quite rude and abrupt, very much adult humour. There's no moral or education or really a story. The only plus is that some adults may be more inclined to read to their kids as this book is very much aimed at those parents who don't like reading to their young children.

30 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Aunt Ree

Fantastic bedtime story just find a good hiding place for it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

Absolutely great book I purchased on the recommendation of a friend who works in a library. I loved it the first 11 times I read it to nephews at bed time. Bought the sequel to avoid temporary insanity from re-reading the same book too many times in a short space of time. Seriously, these kids have a whole bookcase to choose from when they visit me, but no matter where I hid this book they still found it.

As for the story itself, it's very well written, a great idea supported fantastically by the illustrations. If you do unique voices for each colour be sure to remember which crayon has which voice next time you read it, otherwise you'll be constantly interrupted by cries of "This is green not brown!"

The only downside is that the style of writing on the letters makes it difficult for my 6 year old nephew to join in the reading, he's great at typed text but struggles with the crayon font.

14 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Antonio Carlos Andrade

Original idea, not the best execution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

The idea is full of potential: a boy receives letters from each of his crayons expressing their discontent (for apparent various reaasons, but in reality it s always the same 2: too much use or not enough). I remember creating background stories for my coloring pens and pencils when I was a child, and they included a lot more options... At the end, the boy tries to please his crayons (laudable) by making a drawing with all of them, but I challenge anyone to find Grey (and poor peach is a stretch, too).

The language seems more suitable for 8 or older.

The illustrations look and feel like they were made directly on the page by real crayons, which gives it a nice touch (pun intended).

All in all, I think I'll use the idea but tell each letter differently, perhaps with some actual stories.

8 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Jade Hewlett

Fun Story About Colours

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

The Day the Crayons Quit is a fun and unique story of a box of crayons who write letters to Duncan as they are fed up with how they are being treated. I like how we got to see each of the crayons perspectives of what they believe they are stereotypically used for and I think this was all very familiar to the children. Having this shown in letters to Duncan from each of the colour crayons is a fun way to get their point across but it wasn't something all the children enjoyed and with some of the children being quite young I think it was too long and in some cases humour in which I think the younger children didn't understand which meant they lost interest. For the older children it was mostly enjoyed though and they loved seeing all of the illustrations that went along with the letters of a page of that specific colour which was great to see if they could recognise the colours before the letter was read to them. The characters in this book are just the crayons but I love how their personalities are based on the uses they have to children and ones that children will recognise. The children found peach to be particularly amusing and found that part of the story very funny and silly! The children loved the end of the book and seeing the fantastic picture created with the crayons but were also fascinated at the colour choices, I like that this showed them that we don't have to do the same as everyone else and that we can use our imagination and be different! Overall I think their opinion on this book was divided, the younger children weren't too keen but the older ones loved it. A great story regardless though and a brilliantly subtle way of helping children learn their colours!

2 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

K. WALT

Funny and enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a well illustrated and well written funny book. It's about crayons going on strike. One crayon is complaining he is getting overused. One crayon is complaining he is not getting used enough! Pink crayon wants to colour in things that aren't typically pink! Each crayon writes to their owner about why they want changes! As a person who still writes letters I think it promotes writing to express your feelings and letter writing in general. Lovely book. Highly recommend it.

4 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

gina's mom

So nice and smart!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2016

Verified Purchase

The design is amazing, even if minimalist.
The story is so funny.
I'd say it's more for children older than 2...but even younger can enjoy the story and all the pictures (dragons! crocodiles! wizards! wheat!)
I'll buy even the second book of the series.
The book itself is very well done: nice feel with paper and the cover, although paperback, is sturdy.

4 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Samuel Clemens

the concept of crayons writing letters to a child with their complaints is a great idea and I will hopefully be able to reintrod

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

My son, wife and I are fans of Oliver Jeffers' books (and Lost And Found film). Unfortunately, my son, who is 3, doesn't seem to want to read this one again, after the first time. Perhaps, he's just a little young right now, as empathy with crayons may be a little beyond his comprehension at the moment, in contrast to the stories about a boy.

Regardless, the concept of crayons writing letters to a child with their complaints is a great idea and I will hopefully be able to reintroduce this book to my son, when he's a little older.

4 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

tasha

What a great book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

I love reading this book to my daughter. Its such a fun book and makes her (and me) laugh. I think this book will be one of those ones she will remember when she is older and perhaps even read to her children. Yes, its that good.

4 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Sonic Diogenes

Bears up to repeated reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

3-year-old loves it and requests it repeatedly. Silly and funny without being too twee. Old Dad doesn't mind it either, which is a good thing since he's the one who has to read it to the young'un.

3 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Mark Soames

A charming book that children can relate to

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Would easily of been five stars but because the text is handwritten (supposedly by the crayons themselves) then there were one or two paces that were very difficult to read especially in bedtime light. She seems to be able to read it though and it is/was a favourite.

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Helen Speer

An outstanding book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

Every child should have access to this amazing book. The educational content is outstanding and diverse and tremendous fun. As adults we laughed as heartily as the children. We will definitely be purchasing "The Day the Crayons Came Home" The text and artwork are equally outstanding.

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

A. Higson

My children loved it, but I laughed louder!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

Wow! I was blown away by how funny this book is. Using letters as the form to create the individual voices of Duncan's crayons, different perspectives are given on colours and how children use them. The warring yellow and orange both want to be used to draw the sun, black is tired of outlining and beige has an identity crisis! However, the coup of the book was peach whose nakedness (no wrapper) made him/her embarrassed to leave the box. Overall, this was my favourite read and I laughed out loud. Very clever and a fairly substantial read for children. I highly recommend it. The recent 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' is also a wonderful read.

One person found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

George Stark

Don't go!!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

One of my 6yr old daughter's favourite books. She received 'The Day the Crayons Came Back' for a birthday gift and loved it, so a few months later I bought this (the first book of the two). Both books are excellent and I recently read them both to my daughter and her 8yr old friend who was having a sleepover...she also loved it.

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Maddy

Fun and entertaining story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

My 6 year old son absolutely loves this story! Every page is a letter from a different crayon to the boy who uses them. You have to put on different and silly voices for each crayon when you read it for full affect 🤣

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

We love it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

We love this book!
It is pitched at perhaps 3 to 4 years and over, there is a lot of content for a younger pre-schooler. But it is well thought out and enjoyable to read (slightly less so after a gazillion reads...) but it is a favourite that my then 4 and now 5 yo comes back to again and again.

3 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

You've read the top international reviews

See all reviews from the United States

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Craig Smith

70,910

in Children's Farm Animal Books
Paperback
$4.85
Mo Willems

2,468

in Children's Pig Books
Hardcover
$5.24
Marcus Pfister

2,644

Hardcover
$12.79
Herve Tullet

4,138

Board book
$5.73
Maurice Sendak

5,165

Paperback
$5.00
Shel Silverstein

6,749

Hardcover
$8.99

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: book for kindergarten, books for preschool, 100 best books, english to spanish, writing books for kids, reading books for kindergarten

Buy new:

$9.19

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Authors

Similar authors to follow

Similar authors to follow

The Day the Crayons Quit Hardcover – June 27, 2013

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Booklist

Review

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Customer images

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top international reviews

Customers who bought this item also bought

Buy new: $9.19

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Authors

Similar authors to follow

Similar authors to follow

The Day the Crayons Quit Hardcover – June 27, 2013

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Booklist

Review

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Customer images

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top international reviews

You've read the top international reviews

Customers who bought this item also bought

Buy new:

$9.19