The crayons' book of numbers by Drew Daywalt

Ill. by Oliver Jeffers. HarperCollins, 2016. ISBN 9780008212865
In 2013 Daywalt and Jeffers introduced us to a most unlikely set of heroes, or at least a set that they probably didn't realise would become so popular they would become a series. But that is what has happened to Duncan's seemingly innocuous packet of crayons. From the day they refused to be stereotyped any longer in The Day the Crayons Quit to their second adventure when they came home even crankier than ever in The Day the Crayons Came Home their stories and individuality have delighted young readers. Now they are the stars of a number of board books for the very youngest readers beginning with getting them to count them as they find them. Typically though, each crayon does not come quietly - there's a comment from each one of them as they are discovered.
This is a lovely book for a parent-child exploration helping the littlest one learn numbers and colours at the same time and just delight in the joy of these clever, quirky characters. Why can't dinosaurs be pink? Why are red and blue so tired and worn out? What else could green do apart from colour in crocodiles? Lots to chat about and speculate on.
Barbara Braxton