I first found out about The Day the Crayons Quit when it was featured in an Amazon email. I immediately headed over to my library network website and made a request. This is the best thing ever. I can request any book in the system, and they will send that book to my town library. Best of all, there’s no cost for this service! I can’t tell you how many thousands of dollars we have saved by using the library network. Plus, I already have a book storage problem, so anything that I can do to not add to the problem is a plus in everyone’s book.

The Day the Crayons Quit arrived a few days later. This book is a collaboration between author Drew Daywalt and illustrator Oliver Jeffers. The premise is wildly creative, but relatively simple: a little boy named wakes up to find all of his crayons gone. They have left letters behind detailing their reasons for leaving. Everyone has a complaint: this crayon is being used too much, that crayon is not being used enough, Duncan is coloring outside the lines… it seems like the complaints never end! Yellow and Orange are locked in a particularly bitter dispute about which color is the proper color for the sun. Each claims that it is the correct color, and cites an example when Duncan used that color in a sunny scene. They both want Duncan to settle the debate.

Although these complaints are a little overwhelming, Duncan listens intently, and he takes all of the crayons’ needs into consideration. A famous quote says that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, so how is he going to solve all the crayons’ problems?

The illustrations are adorable. The book is set up with a letter from a crayon on the left side, and an illustration on the right. The illustration demonstrates the point that the crayon is making. The illustrations themselves are very cute. We’re familiar with Jeffers, and it was a treat to see him featured in this book. I’m a sucker for child-like drawings, and I absolutely loved seeing Duncan’s artwork on each page.

My girls also loved The Day The Crayons Quit. My oldest actually took the book and kept it in her room on her library books shelf. She’s in first grade, and she seemed to appreciate this book more than her sisters. They certainly enjoyed reading it, but my oldest, who is almost seven years old, was able to get the humor more than her sisters, who are almost five years old.

I would definitely recommend The Day the Crayons Quit. If you would like some more information, you can find the book here: The Day the Crayons Quit