Parents' Guide to

The Day the Crayons Quit

By Regan McMahon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 3+

Crayons complain to their owner in funny ode to color.

Book Drew Daywalt Picture Book 2013
The Day the Crayons Quit Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 5+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Logan54
Logan54 Adult
May 18, 2020
age 4+

Amazing!

I thought this was a great book. So great I ended up buying it for myself even though I have two daughters. I picked it up with no intentions on buying any books that day, but I just couldn’t put it down as I read the first few pages and thought what a cool idea. To see the world through Duncan’s Crayons was pretty epic. I am an Art teacher and I have this book on my shelf so my students can see it and almost if not all of them say what a great book this is. And they even tout the sequel which I have yet to read.
Pollmann
Pollmann Adult
November 12, 2018
age 6+

There was no story

We did not like the book because there was no story and I found the sense of humor ridiculous. It is too silly and a bit nonsensical.
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

A little boy named Duncan (who's never shown) finds a stack of letters in his school desk sent to him by the crayons in his crayon box -- all letters of complaint. In child-like printing, each crayon expresses its frustration. Red says it works too hard all year, coloring fire engines, apples, strawberries. "I even work on holidays!" (coloring Santas and Valentines). Beige doesn't have enough to do -- "Brown gets all the bears, ponies and puppies" -- and it gets stuck with wheat, "and let's be honest -- when was the last time you saw a kid get excited about coloring wheat?" Yellow's fighting with Orange about which one should be used to color the sun. Twelve crayons in all lay out their issues, and then Duncan comes up with a happy, artistic solution to please everyone.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (5 ):

THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT is wildly imaginative and loads of fun. It has a youthful sensibility that kids will relate to, but it's so clever that adults won't mind reading it over and over again. It's just funny to think about crayons being mad about what they have to color -- or being jealous of what other crayons get to! And illustrator Oliver Jeffers imbues each little crayon with a distinct personality and perfectly captures kid-style drawings. If you're looking for a fresh idea in a children's book, look no further.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about coloring. Are there any rules about which crayons should be used for certain things? Have you ever used a crazy color for a cow or a pig?

  • Check out Eric Carle's The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse and see how he used any color he wanted to paint animals.

  • Take out your box of crayons and try to imagine what they might tell you in a letter. Try writing a letter, pretending you're one of the crayons writing to you. What will you say?

Book Details

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