The Day the Crayons Quit

Story

Duncan’s crayons are in crisis, so they each decide to write him a letter of complaint. Red, Blue and Grey Crayon are exhausted, Beige Crayon wants more excitement, Black Crayon wants to be more than just an outline and Peach Crayon feels naked after Duncan took off his wrapper. Yellow and Orange Crayon are arguing and Pink Crayon feels underused . Only Green Crayon seems happy with his lot. How on earth is Duncan going to keep them all happy?

Why we chose it

An imaginative and inventive story that young children - and teachers of young children - love. It shows that you don’t always have to follow the conventions and encourages exploration, experimentation and creativity.

Where it came from

American writer and filmmaker Drew Daywalt (1970–) studied Creative Writing at Emerson College in Boston and is an award-winning writer/director of film and TV. He has written for Disney and Universal.

He lives in California with his wife, children and German Shepherd dog. His favourite colour is black. As a child, Daywalt would use up all his greens and browns. Later, he took inspiration from his own box of crayons for his first picturebook. The Day the Crayons Quit is his first children’s book.

Northern Irish artist and illustrator Oliver Jeffers (1977–) did a BA in Illustration and Visual Communication at Ulster University and is the highly acclaimed author and illustrator of a number of much loved children's books including Lost and Found, The Way Back Home and The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

Where it went next

In 2013 The Day the Crayons Quit won a Barnes & Noble’s Best Book and also Goodreads’ Best Picture Book of the Year. In 2014 it was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and in the same year won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. It went on to win the Red House Children's Book of 2015. In addition it was the Number One New York Times Bestseller.

Associated stories

Drew and Jeffers have since continued the Crayon series with The Day the Crayons Came Home, The Crayons’ Book of Colours, Love from the Crayons and The Crayons’ Christmas.