We have been fans of the Crayons series by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers since 2013, when The Day the Crayons Quit — a #1 New York Times bestseller — brought us an entertaining palette of grievances. Since then, this dynamic author-illustrator team has created The Day the Crayons Came Home, The Crayons' Book of Feelings, Love from the Crayons, seasonal Crayons books, and more.
The latest volume offers blue oceans, green trees, white ice caps, and other familiar colors from nature that a child can delight in witnessing. It also places the Beige crayon in a starring role as it tries to insert wheat — its own color — everywhere. It proclaims (to the dismay of practical Purple) that "wheat likes to swim and go canoeing in rivers" and "I'm pretty sure wheat's an animal." As Beige's claims get increasingly absurd, young readers are sure to be giggling.
By the end, though, the multicolored Crayons have all lined up holding hands, with Beige holding Purple's hand on his right and a stalk of wheat on his left. We are reminded that "Our planet has all of us too, in many shapes, colors, and sizes."
The pride that the Crayons express in helping recreate Earth's varied colors encourage children to treasure our planet and its hues. This book would make a lovely Earth Day gift for four-to-eight-year-old readers.
