The Day the Crayons Quit

Somehow I got this idea while trolling around on the internet… it might have been the Facebook, it might have been the Pinterest.  The premise?  Buy 25 new kids books, wrap each one, and then read one every day as we count down to Christmas.  It appealed to me for a variety of reasons but primarily because I’m sick of reading 95% of our bedtime stories.

Three things to note: First, none of the books fit in our advent calendar, which is a problem I have not yet solved.  Second, who can afford 25 “new” kids books?  After doing quite a bit of comparison shopping on Amazon, it seems to be the cheapest way to go.  I bought some used library books in “very good” condition with “all the pages and only a few highlights.”  But a few hours of research showed that Amazon is attempting to price-out all of its independent “partners” by pricing brand new books cheaper than ripped-up old books.  Or, in the words of some re-run marketeer, “it’s new to you” books.  And third, why go to the trouble of wrapping 25 books when you can just sneak one out of the cupboard, put it in a reusable fabric bag each night and save yourself hours of wrapping?  I come from a long line of garbage bag present wrappers.

And so I will endeavor to also post 25 mini book reviews this month.  Riveting, right?

It all began with several hours of iPad Caltrain research.  You’d think it’d be easy to pick out 25 children’s books from the THOUSANDS that have been published.  But, I beg to differ.  As I may have mentioned, I’ve read some real duds in the last four years therefore finding 25 books that are worth reading was surprisingly tougher than one might think.  I polled friends.  I read lists of books that have won major awards.  I read online reviews.  Then I just went with what looked kind of good.

I should probably give you a bit of background as to what makes a “good” kid book in my book.  My top five criteria include:

1) Humor – I like my nighttime reading to be funny.  I like to hear little kid belly laughs.  It better make me snicker.  I’m a huge fan of sophisticated humor that goes right over the heads of the munchkins to which I’m reading.  Think Pixar movie, only significantly shorter, which leads me to two…

2) Length – Goldilocks length.  Not too long, not to short.  I’ll be here all night… no I’m kidding.  Please.

3) Plot – I’m looking for a good story with an actual plot.  If there’s suspense or a surprise ending, even better.  I can only take so many books that “teach us about the body parts of insects.”

4) Art – Beautiful or clever or colorful illustrations.  I get very little professional art in my life these days.  Let’s make it count.

5) Substitutions Minimized – I very much appreciate authors that recognize the prolonged and ultimately losing battle against words and phrases such as stupid, butt, hate, shut-up and kill.  I know they’ll end up in their vocabulary at some point… let’s not make it tomorrow?  I really don’t want to have to read on high alert, spontaneously creating alternative words as I read about James Henry Trotter’s mean, fat aunt that calls him stupid and essentially submits him to such severe child abuse and neglect that he escapes via peach, Roald.  I still love you though.

So let’s get on the with the show.  The first book in our series and one which I found on many “top” lists for 2013:

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrations by Oliver Jeffers

In a nutshell: This book is a collection of letters from Duncan’s mostly unhappy set of crayons.  One or two Amazon reviewers didn’t like that the crayons have a beef with Duncan and write him letters of complaint.  After reading it I wouldn’t worry.  It’s not going to make your kids bigger complainers than they probably already are.  It’s got cool illustrations and a creative, unexpected ending.  The funniest part is at the very end about the peach crayon.  You’ll have to read it to see what I’m talking about.  There is one unnecessary use of ‘hate.’  From a kid perspective, I didn’t conduct formal interviews, but we read it three times yesterday at three different sittings.  At this point, I don’t have a rating system figured out, but so far we’re off to a good start.

Families can talk about: What is a strike?  Why do people strike and what’s a picket line?  How would you approach a labor dispute?  What should Duncan’s strategy be in renegotiating their contract?  The story helps younger listeners practice their colors.  The pictures of the letters look so real your two-year-old may try to pick them up off the page.

Looking forward to an equally creative sequel that I’ve taken the liberty of titling The Day the Parents Quit.  It was a long holiday weekend…

 

Yeah right!  Photo courtesy of http://www.pinterest.com/pin/508273507916699712/.