My family and I recently re-read Michael Hall's picture book Red: A Crayon's Story, and it is a beautifully written book. My children had me read it and re-read it. We have rechecked it out from the library again, so I am thinking that it is time to purchase our own copy. Red is a story of a blue crayon who was mislabeled as red. Everyone, including Red's parents, family and friends keep telling Red that he needs to work hard and to keep trying to fit in. Red was forced to conform, clipped by a scissor to loosen the wrapper label, and sharpened by a pencil sharpener to see if they can help change Red. It's a sad story but it's written really well for children to comprehend. Finally, Red meets a friend, Berry, who accepts Red for who he is and asked him to make a blue ocean for Berry's boat. It was because of Berry's acceptance that Red realizes that he is actually Blue. Awww, I just love Berry! Such a sweet crayon! Now, all the other crayons are amazed at Blue's abilities. Even though I think it's a sad story, it has a happy ending.
Now, my children don't think the story is sad at all. They think it's really cute, and they love all the different color crayons in the book (Amber, Grape, Sunshine, Sea Green, Cocoa Bean, etc). After I re-read the book several times, my 3 year old ran upstairs to work on something. She later reappeared with her own creations of Red and the other crayons in hand.
I absolutely LOVE when a book inspires my children to create something! I think this book is a wonderful book that illustrates to children how we should all accept someone for who they are. It's a great book to talk about acceptance, kindness, empathy, and celebrating one's uniqueness with your children.
Have you read Red: A Crayon's Story? What did you think about it?
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