Red: A Crayon's Story Hardcover – February 3, 2015

I have read this story to groups of adult students ...

Comment

Kathy W.

May 24, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I have read this story to groups of adult students as well as kindergarten children. The adults get one message, "be true to who you really are" and kindergarteners get another message, "if you are a blue crayon, you can only color blue even if your label says red". No matter what the perceived message is for anyone it is a very inspiring one.

5 people found this helpful

This is one of my favorite children's books

Comment

Kendall

May 15, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is one of my favorite children's books. It's fun; All of the characters are crayons. But it also has a pretty simple and powerful message about believing in your own unique gifts, not bowing to pressure to be something you are not, etc. It's an effective story with a good moral that doesn't feel too heavy for younger children. A great gift for children aged 3-7, particularly those in pre-K and kindergarten.

3 people found this helpful

This book is so perfect. It teaches children about being true to themselves ...

Comment

Amazon Customer

November 6, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is so perfect. It teaches children about being true to themselves in a way they can understand. This is especially helpful for teaching children about LGBTQ people in a subtle way.

7 people found this helpful

My kindergarten students love this story of this crayon that thinks he is ...

Comment

Lorena Merino

February 1, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

My kindergarten students love this story of this crayon that thinks he is Red, they like to see how their friends talk about it and the end is very nice. My 1st grade students..not so much. It is a hard cover and great ilustrations.

2 people found this helpful

Making a librarian's dream come true: more books like this please!

Comment

A. Ruminski

March 1, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I am a grade K-8 librarian and, as soon as I heard about this story, I had to purchase it for my school library. I was definitely not disappointed and I will admit to weeping slightly as I read this (though, I do tend to weep at most touching picture books, but that's another story).

Red can be read in many different ways. In it's simplistic form, it's merely about a crayon simply wanting to be itself without succumbing to the pressures of its family and peers. Children could easily view this as their intrinsic need to try and fail, all the while gain autonomy over their lives (fitting with Erikson's Psychosocial Stages).

On a more complex level, you can definitely see this book relating to the LGBQT community as well as dealing with the mental health issues related to being denied your true self (e.g. depression, feelings of "otherness", etc.). In fact, I believe the one-star reviewer saw this book only as a platform for the transgender community and not the many other possible moralities to this story (which prompted me to write this review).

From my brief experiments with the book and a survey of about 15 teachers and parents, adults seem to immediately see the crayon as a transgender person. They tend to overlook the crayon being blue on the inside and only see the red label at first (10ish/15 did not see a blue crayon - I say 10ish because one person had already read the book prior to my survey). Only when the crayon begins to struggle creating red pictures do they realize the crayon is, in fact, blue.

I have yet to "experiment" reading this with kids, but this week I plan on reading this to several classes of varying ages to get a sample of opinions. My hypothesis: most elementary students (K-5ish) will see the book as a powerful "coming of age" story about self-acceptance unless they have a prior relationship to the LGBQT community. I am very interested to read this book to classes where some of the students have same-gendered parents. I also think starting in grades 4/5, students might begin thinking there is more to the story and relate it to bigger ideas of morality, gender, and identity.

116 people found this helpful

Comment

Jennifer Reed

Charming and meaningful

June 23, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I ordered this for my kid as it was rated well. I read it and it made me cry it was so good. It has a lovely message about embracing who you really are and not having unrealistic expectations. My kid loves it and I bought another copy for my child therapy clients.

3 people found this helpful

A great book that teaches young ones that being different is all right and to accept people for who they are.

Comment

FlyingCloud

January 11, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is one of the sweetest stories ever. It really teaches young ones about how being different is all right and to accept people for who they are. It is a truly lovely book that we highly recommend you read to your child. It would also make a great gift.

2 people found this helpful

A Great Introduction to Identity Crisis for Kids

Comment

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

Becky Ballard

I bought this book for my nephew because I saw a preview and I liked the idea behind the story. He was only one when I got it for him, but a year later and it's a book that he...Read more

Adam M.

great lesson.

Jessica Perkins

My students enjoyed this book

I'm a play therapist and use this with my kids all the time. Beautiful message for a variety of issues. Highly recommended.

Audrey Brown

Buy It

Love the message of this book!

Jen in Indy

Powerful message!

Rhonda Quaife

This is an excellent story about not judging someone by the way they look on the outside

Published 2 months ago

Kelly

A clear and powerful story

This story is beautiful and powerful. I can't even begin to describe how much it touched me. I bought it for my classroom but I will be buying a personal copy to save for when I...Read more

Published 2 months ago

randy

Terrific book!

Published 3 months ago

Sue