The Crayons' Book of Colors

Crayons

by Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers

Duncan and his crayons have been very busy!

The crayons are back and brighter than ever in this board book of colors from the creators of the #1 'New York Times' Best Sellers, 'The Day the Crayons Quit' (2013) and 'The Day the Crayons Came Home' (2015).

It's Duncan's birthday, and all the crayons want to make him a card!

With their fun and quirky illustrations of firetrucks, dragons, and (dare we say?) wheat, these creative crayons each have something different to contribute. When they come together, they can make something truly spectacular to celebrate Duncan's birthday!

Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers have combined once more to create a companion book every bit as funny and as kid-friendly as their #1 bestselling 'The Day the Crayons Quit' (2013). Here comes a new and fun board book introducing young readers to colors. It's sure to delight children and inspire refrigerator door paintings for generations to come!

Age Rating: Ages 2-5+ / Lexile Score AD380L
Edition MSRP: $8⁹⁹ USA / $11⁹⁹ CAN (ISBN 978-0-451-53404-0)
Manufactured in China

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Art, Fiction, Storytime, Humor, Kids

20 pages, Board Book

First published October 18, 2016

About the author

Ever since his childhood in one of Ohio’s most haunted houses, writer director Drew Daywalt has been writing escapist fantasy and building worlds of his own. With a degree in Creative Writing, and a concentration in Children’s Literature from Emerson College in Boston, Daywalt set off to Hollywood where he spent years writing for Disney and Universal on such beloved shows as Timon & Pumba, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody Woodpecker, and where his animated series The Wacky World of Tex Avery garnered an Emmy nomination.

His first trip into live action landed him studio screenwriting and feature film directing work with such Hollywood luminaries as Quentin Tarrantino, Lawrence Bender, Tony Scott, Brett Ratner and Jerry Bruckheimer.

With an eye toward picture book writing, Daywalt’s first book THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, debuted on the New York Times Best Seller’s List in June 2013, and has since become a Number One Best Seller.

Reviews

[Dorie - Cats&Books :)]

I purchased this book for my grandson who was 3 at the time and it was a little too advanced for him. Now at 4 1/2 he really, really enjoys it. It is such a unique story and a little quirky which is perfect for ages 4 and up, the illustrations are wonderful and each little crayon's story is different. I love this book :)

[Dan]

This is another board book I've read approximately 4,000 times since my son got interested in books a few months ago. Each page or two page spread has a different color and all the stuff drawn with it. Green has drawn a frog, a dinosaur, a tree, and some recycling crocodiles, while beige has only drawn wheat. My son is into shouting out the names of colors when he sees them so this is a fun one for him.

Before Miles was born, they threw a baby shower for us at my work. It's really weird that two years later, half of the people at the shower have either retired or quit and I haven't seen the ones I still work with in over a year and a half because of working remotely during the pandemic.

[Jon Nakapalau]

The sad story is finally told - some crayons can color more things than other crayons; and some crayons sit in the crayon box even as their friends live colorful lives.

[Ernesto Alvarado]

Very simple but very cute.
The crayons are very nice characters, my favorite is the purple crayon (he can draw dragons)
The ilustrations are appealing for children and very colorful (duh).

I want to read more books from this author, especially

[Robin]

Without the mirth of Daywalt's other "Crayon" books. Not recommended to fans of the series.

[Matt]

A board book, but Neo liked the colours and that I could read it while he had a snack. The premise is that all the colours in the crayon box are busy, adding hues to different things. Well, most of them at least. Beige is still stuck only working when wheat needs to be create and peach is still wondering what service he/she can bring to the colouring event, but overall, many fine colours and images come to life when these crayons are involved. Neo loved seeing all the pictures and the uniquely designed items that appeared on the pages. Perfect for a snack time!

[Mid-Continent Public Library]

Some may remember the crayons from their first book, “The Day the Crayons Quit” but they are back again this time to wish their favorite boy Duncan a happy birthday! Enjoy this one now by checking out a copy on Mymcpl.org or searching for it on Overdrive! - Reviewed by Stephanie at MCPL Reading Rocket

[Mary]

A playful preschool concept board book about colors that uses the illustrations from previous books.
This will be a fun way to introduce the series to younger readers.

[Faloni ©]

Students in our classroom are studying colors, this book helps with identifying colors in a special kind of way.

[Maxwell Rae]

Just rehashing the content from the original story and turn a profit. Not worth a read.

[Kathy Davie]

A standalone (and educational) picture book in The Crayons series for children revolving around crayons and color association.

My Take
Daywalt and Jeffers have way too much fun exploring colors with their readers.

The graphics are simple but those crayons do have their fun, lol. From poor beige's disappointment and pink's annoyance to green's crocodilian humor and more.

Yet simple doesn't begin to cover it, as some of those crayons demonstrate the range of color in their hue. A great way to stimulate young readers and broaden their expectations.

Besides the humor, I absolutely adore Jeffers' use of childlike crayoning to color the firetruck, the dragon, the elephant and penguin, as for that black rainbow, lol...

Be sure to spend some time on that last page spread...a great test for the kids *more laughter*

The Characters
A short range of colors from red to gray, white, black, green, yellow, orange, blue, pink, and peach.

The Cover and Title
The cover is simple with its white background in the center of which are three crayons — yellow, blue, and red — of differing heights.

The title is true, for it's The Crayons' Book of Colors as they explore themselves.

[Melody (theliteraryowl)]

read this one for work and it is such a wholesome and lovely story, i’m pretty sure my students will love it. definitely recommend for little ones

[Harlow]

I can’t wait to use crayons!

[Kristen]

I liked that some crayons were used for unconventional drawings, like black for a rainbow and beach ball. This will be a nice interactive book for when Madison is a bit older.

[Shannonmde]

Times read -- 2

[Jeimy]

Another amazing book in this series!

[Mitchell Friedman]

Simple color board book. I pick up one of these from the library and I ask myself - why did I put this on hold? And often I really don't remember. For this one it's probably that one of the other books by this author was pretty good. This was okay. It had a few mild jokes but no through story. The art was nothing special - which is actually fairly typical for the artist - who I mostly don't appreciate. meh. There are better color books. This one isn't actually bad, it's just not all that good.

[Jackie Wallace]

My daughter really liked this simple book!

[Kate M. Colby]

Jack borrowed this book from the Ashland Public Library.

So, this is a cute book of colors that shows what each crayon has drawn. What we didn’t realize was that it is part of a series, so if you don’t know that, it’s like, “Who is this kid Duncan that’s mentioned?”

But anyway, still an enjoyable read for little ones. Jack liked looking at the colors.

[BoringBookLover]

School book # 10

[Heidi]

Using parts of the original story found in The Day the Crayons Quit, Daywalt and Jeffers introduce young children to their colors. Each crayon is introduced along with the things they have colored (red has colored Santa, strawberries, hearts, apples, and a fire engine. The inclusion of questions throughout the story give parent and child opportunities to talk about what's happening in the book. And the final page includes all the colors in one big picture, giving the child a chance to identify the different colors. This makes for a delightful introduction to both crayons and colors and the possibilities of both.

[The Katie]

What is the point of this book?
Although Amazon says they are doing something for Duncan birthday...that wasn't in the book I read. It really is exactly same images as The Day the Crayons Quit without any humor or personification given. Nothing about a birthday.

I'm really not sure what book the others have read, as reading the other positive reviews feels like I'm gaslighting myself. Did the makers have all their friends come and leave reviews? Glad I only borrowed it from the library. Seriously, I don't understand why this book was created.

[Courtney Nipper]

This was such a cute little book. The pictures and facial expressions are just adorable and the colors are very vivid.
I would like to use this children's fiction book in a kindergarten classroom to help learn colors and coordinate those colors to items. I would also like to use it to show the class how they are each unique individuals but when we come together as a whole we can create some wonderful things together.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter]

I love the full length crayon books but this one is a miss for me. It doesn’t add anything to the original story or really differ in any significant way. It’s a board book, so I understand that it is kind of a shortened version of the original book for little ones and aims at teaching the colors. But I’d personally just wait until they can appreciate the actual story rather than add in this pointless version.

[Jocelin]

A cute addition in the "Crayon" library. An easy and fun read that incorporates using colors. A great way to introduce 2-4 year olds to the "Crayons". Some of the story is borrowed from the crayon series but, it is still a joy to read. Of course, the "Crayons" would definitely do a book about colors. It was so totally obvious.

[Beckie]

Great book for color recognition. My 2 year old had a great time associating colors with objects she knew and the story was cute too. The end of the book was the best allowing her to find each of the colors on her own.

[Caroline]

The crayons from "The Day the Crayons Quit" are back. Each crayon introduces things that crayon has colored in, such as Red crayon coloring strawberries and hearts.

This could easily be used as a felt or prop story in story time.

[Rebecca Ann]

Orange crayon is being cheated, but I can't get enough of these illustrations of humorous asides by the crayons. I love the subtle push towards nonconformity! This is great for preschool and Kindergarten!

[Melanie]

This book is more for preschoolers about colors. Not like the first 2 books which are hilarious

[Candace Hudson]

This book was a big hit with my three year old. He loved pointing out the colors. Cute