The crayons go back to school by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

Four very successful books about the crayons have come before this the latest showing the crayons in situations our readers will recognise.  Here the crayons are about to return to school after the long summer break. Blue and Beige farewell the beach where they have spent their holidays. They remove their sunglasses, lose their ice cream and say goodbye to the sand hills. The night before school a most important decision must be made: what to wear. Going to school means seeing old friends, commenting on how they have changed. They also make new friends, and of course, the students are all very busy. They learn new things. Purple crayon  loves maths, Black crayon loves to write, White crayon loves to read, Yellow and Orange love science, and they all love art, particularly when they make a mess.

A delightful look at the advantages of going back to school will have instant appeal as readers can see themselves in the action of the crayons. Readers will love seeing the different things that happen at school, and appreciate the humour of the crayons doing things that they do. Jeffers’ crayons are wonderful, each crayon reflecting human traits as they go through the day at school. I love Brown crayon holding his own crayon, the dropped ice cream on the beach, the beautiful roll of sellotape and the sharpener on Yellow crayon’s head.  All readers will love seeking out the small details which conspire to draw many smiles. Text and illustrations conspire to making this a book of laughs, particularly for children about to return to school.

More about Drew and his books can be found here. And there are several readings of the book on Youtube.

Themes: Crayons, School, Art, Humour.

Fran Knight