The day the crayons quit
- Author: Drew Daywalt | Age: 3+ years
Twelve crayons have had enough and address their complaints in respectful yet frustrated (and funny!) letters to their young owner, Duncan. In child-like letters, each crayon expresses its frustration, accompanied by perfectly captured child-like drawings.
Red works too hard all year – including holidays – to colour fire engines, flowers, hearts and Santa. Yellow and Orange have stopped talking as both claim to be the colour of the sun, Black is frustrated to be used only for drawing outlines and Beige feels its treated unfairly because “Brown gets all the bears, ponies and puppies”.
The Day the crayons quit is a wonderful starting point to talk about colours and what they mean to the children. Take out a box of crayons and ask the children about their favourite colour. Are there any rules about which colour should be used for certain things? Which colour would they use for something hot? Which for something cold? Can animals see colours, too?
With our book recommendations, we want to spark an interest in children to discover STEM in their everyday lives. Most books go beyond the obvious STEM connections and can be a great starting point for exploring children’s questions and ideas further.
Learn more: Book a STEM workshop.
Article author: Tina Gaertner
Graphic Design & Marketing Support
Tina combines her love of graphic design with a master’s degree in adult education. She loves using her creativity and digital expertise to contribute to changing young children’s lives.
