- Comedy
- The Crayons collection
- Ages 3–7
The Crayons
Part of the collectionThe Crayons→Best for read-aloud comedy, character voices, colour play and children who enjoy books built around funny complaints.
- Books3 / 3
- Arcs1
- Span2013–2023
- StatusOngoing
The series
At a glance.
The Crayons is Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers' picture-book series beginning with The Day the Crayons Quit, where Duncan receives letters from his frustrated crayons. The Day the Crayons Came Home then widens the joke into postcards from lost, broken or abandoned crayons, while Happy Birthday, The Crayons! offers a more celebratory follow-up. The books are very strong aloud because each crayon has a distinct comic voice, and the artwork makes the emotional exaggeration immediately clear. They work for preschoolers as comedy and for older children as a gentle lesson in perspective-taking.
Best for read-aloud comedy, character voices, colour play and children who enjoy books built around funny complaints.
Primary themes
Overall tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
Read The Day the Crayons Quit first. The Day the Crayons Came Home works best once children understand the crayon personalities and the letter/postcard format.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- IStandalone collection arcBooks 1–3 · 2013–2015Low sensitivity
The crayons speak up
Three picture books about crayons with opinions, complaints, homesickness, celebration and strong comic voices.
The Crayons works as one standalone comic collection rather than a plot-progressive series. The Day the Crayons Quit is the essential entry, built around crayon complaints and the comic justice of each colour getting its say. The Day the Crayons Came Home expands the format through postcards and lost-object absurdity, while Happy Birthday, The Crayons! keeps the ensemble in a lighter celebratory mode. The series is low sensitivity, with conflict handled through humour and letter-writing rather than threat. Its strongest value is helping children enjoy different perspectives while laughing at the sheer bossiness of stationery.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 3–8
- Independent · 6–8
Reluctant-reader friendliness
High
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Not especially
Sensitivity envelope
Low overall, and consistent.
Where it sits
In conversation with other series.
Similar in feel
Different shelves, same wavelength.
- The Hueys →
- The Book with No Pictures →
- The Pigeon →
About the author