- Comedy
- Picture Books
- Ages 2–8
The shape of it
One universe, several ways in.
The Crayons is Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers' hugely popular picture-book collection about Duncan's box of crayons, each with its own voice, personality and grievance. It began with The Day the Crayons Quit, where the crayons go on strike and write Duncan letters explaining exactly why, and grew into a franchise: sequels in the same epistolary comic mode, plus a run of themed companion books covering love, bedtime, mornings, school, the planet and manners. The genius is consistent, Daywalt finds the absurdist angle on everyday situations, and Jeffers' deadpan waxy characters make every complaint land, and the books work as brilliantly for adults reading aloud as for the children listening. Beneath the comedy sit gentle lessons in fairness, empathy, identity and seeing the world from another point of view.
A very funny, clever picture-book collection about opinionated crayons, creativity, fairness and seeing the world from different points of view.
Primary themes
Tone palette
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
- Irreverent
Two series inside
Pick a way in.
The Crayons
The core epistolary trilogy, letters, postcards and new friendships from opinionated crayons, and some of the best read-aloud comedy in picture books.
Books
3Ages
3–8Status
Ongoing- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
- Irreverent
The Crayons Companion Books
The themed companion picture books, love, bedtime, mornings, school, the planet and manners, applying the crayons' comedy to gentle occasions and topics.
Books
6Ages
2–7Status
Ongoing- Funny
- Warm
- Silly
- Gentle
Cultural footprint
A shelf of evidence.
What The Crayons has done
- Bestseller
- Licensed merchandise
Cultural ubiquity
4/ 5Widely-known cultural fixture — just below household-name status.
Sensitivity
Low, and collection-wide.
Across the collection
All 9 books.
About the creator