rayons started to feel so sad they were near to tears.” Just when they feel certain they are going to be thrown out, a little girl opens them up. She is so excited. There is a brand-new white crayon in the box! “She cradled the old crayon box all the way home.”
Their new owner, Olivia, always starts her pictures with a white crayon. Then, using water colors, she paints the paper. The white crayon’s wax prevents the watercolors from sticking to it. So, wherever Olivia had used the white crayon, it remains white. She paints white stars in the sky, blue seas with white jellyfish, and forests with white unicorns. When the first snow of the year comes, “Olivia drew a picture using mostly the white crayon.” Returning to the box, the white crayon is now much shorter and all the crayons are happy.
Yoko Maruyama’s soft-toned illustrations nicely complement her gentle narrative. The story starts off in a dark, quiet box where the colorful, tall, and happy crayons are waiting to be bought at the store. Her hopeful words, “Their hearts were filled with expectation,” start the story off on a happy and peaceful note. The book ends with the crayons in the dark box once again, but this time they are all shorter and happy to have been chosen.
The message of inclusivity is a beautiful theme woven throughout the book. Maruyama returns to the inside of the box several times, illustrating how the white crayon is the only crayon that doesn’t get used. The tall white crayon sticks out compared to the more colorful and shorter crayons. The white crayon’s simplistic sad face makes it easy for young readers to understand that the white crayon is sad from being excluded. Then, later Maruyama shows the white crayon smiling along with the rest of the crayons, shorter and happier from being included.
While a third of the book’s illustration take place inside the crayon box, Maruyama has created a beautiful tale about thinking outside the box. Olivia’s unique way of using the white crayon’s wax is very different from the way Lucas had created his drawings. Maruyama’s clever illustrations displaying crayon-resistant art can easily be replicated by young readers. The illustrations throughout the book play on the use of white space as well. The dark interior of the crayon box contrasts with bright light that appears when Olivia or Lucas open the box. This technique is also featured in the human world. For example, in Olivia’s house the dark interior contrasts sharply with the white snow outside.
My son loves this book! It has been in nightly rotation since we first read it a week ago. The Forgotten Crayon is a great book for helping children understand the importance of inclusivity and makes a creative addition for home, school, and public libraries.
minedition, 2020 | ISBN 978-9888341986
National Crayon Day Activity
Have fun recreating Olivia’s jellyfish painting from your own crayon box!
- Printable Jellyfish and Fish Stencil Template
- Paper (I found regular paper to work better than watercolor paper)
- White crayon
- Print out stencil template
- Starting in the center of each figure cut out the jellyfish and the fish
- Place template on paper. Using your white crayon, trace and color in your jellyfish and fish
- Use blue watercolors and paint your paper
- Let dry
You can find The Forgotten Crayon at these booksellers
Picture Book Review