Red: A Crayon's Story

Excellent book for little readers. It gives a touching and heartwarming depiction of how some of us aren't what we appear to be on the outside, but we are all capable of great things. Could be a good read for describing disabilities (prosthetics) or transgender (or other identity label) to small children. I highly recommend it!
As a transgender man, I may be using this as one of the possible books to explain my identity and the difference between now and photos on my brother's wall to my young nephew. He isn't quite old enough just yet, but soon.

This is a beautiful way to introduce children to the idea that not everyone feels right with their "label." It illustrates some of the frustration and confusion that a trans person, as well as their friends and family, may feel at their inability to express their outward label, and the relief, joy, and self acceptance when they finally realize what they are inside.

My daughter is five, so some of the metaphors are a little bit above her head, but this has helped start an age-appropriate conversation, and I couldn't be happier with it.

Very sweet and also very serious. The life scenarios I can see this addressing are serious and intense. For instance, the masking tape tapes red because masking tape suspects red is "broken inside." I think this book can help children get through some very serious and strong feelings that can be difficult to talk about. Loved it, I'm buying it for everyone!

Love this story. Great conversation started for children and adults. My daughter took it to school and read it to her class for book week, and the teacher ordered it before the day was over for her classroom. Great book. Great lesson in accepting your true self, or the true self of others.

My son is 4 years old, has autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, is profoundly gifted, and is really big for his age (looks about 7). And though he pretty much is a mislabeled crayon, I thought the concept would be a bit too abstract for him. He thinks in clear and concrete pictures and usually does not like fiction, especially anthropomorphized objects (think Thomas or Disney's Cars). But, his love of crayons won out and this is now his all time favorite book. And he gets it. "Red never really was red, was he?" "Red was happy and everyone liked him better when he decided to just be blue." "Being blue wasn't wrong, it was just unexpected." Wow. I am floored at the level of depth he was able to take away from this story. I don't usually buy Kindle books because there is so much available for free (sort low to high in the children's and see what I mean, selection changes daily, also our local library has Kindle books available), but this is so worth it. We even bought Frankencrayon. Both books are great and we love that Michael Hall did not just stick to the same 100 sight words that seem to populate every story for children, challenging words in a story for children is what every parent of a gifted child dreams of.

PS We read this on an ipad mini and both books are formatted well for the screen. I wish the text was a bit larger, but it is readable on the mini. I would not recommend it on anything smaller though. the store does let you to return kindle books for a refund if you let them know that there is something wrong right away (even if the "something wrong" is that you just didn't like it) so why not give it a try?

Oh and PPS, I bought this book because of the complaints about a transgender acceptance theme and I am so glad I did. Thank you, hateful reviewers, for encouraging me to buy one of the most meaningful books in my son's library. You have sincerely done me a great service.

For old and young alike, this simple story illustrates the basic concept that the "wrapper" and "label" on someone does not necessarily tell us what is inside. And when a person is free to share who they really are with the world, wonderful things happen.

Summary: What happens when a blue crayon gets a red label? Everyone thinks he’s red. His teacher thinks he needs more practice, the scissors think his label is too tight (“One snip should do it”), his grandparents think he needs to wear a warm scarf. But no matter what he tries, it doesn’t work. He just can’t make those strawberries and hearts look the way they’re supposed to. Finally, he meets a new friend (Berry), who asks him to make an ocean for his boat. And it’s perfect!

Pros: This is a great story that kids can read at their own level of understanding. My first thought was that it was about gender identification, but it could be about embracing yourself in many different ways. School psychologists and social workers should definitely check this one out.

Cons: The first time I read this, the message seemed a little heavy-handed, but I don’t think kids would see it that way.

I'm a preschool teacher, and our librarian suggested this book for our ongoing unit on color. I cried the first time I read it - I think we've all felt like Red at one point or another! It handles abstract and difficult concepts with text that is easy for young children to understand. A simple and beautiful story about celebrating who you truly are.

Summary: What happens when a blue crayon gets a red label? Everyone thinks he’s red. His teacher thinks he needs more practice, the scissors think his label is too tight (“One snip should do it”), his grandparents think he needs to wear a warm scarf. But no matter what he tries, it doesn’t work. He just can’t make those strawberries and hearts look the way they’re supposed to. Finally, he meets a new friend (Berry), who asks him to make an ocean for his boat. And it’s perfect!

Pros: This is a great story that kids can read at their own level of understanding. My first thought was that it was about gender identification, but it could be about embracing yourself in many different ways. School psychologists and social workers should definitely check this one out.

Cons: The first time I read this, the message seemed a little heavy-handed, but I don’t think kids would see it that way.

I'm a preschool teacher, and our librarian suggested this book for our ongoing unit on color. I cried the first time I read it - I think we've all felt like Red at one point or another! It handles abstract and difficult concepts with text that is easy for young children to understand. A simple and beautiful story about celebrating who you truly are.

This is an imaginative story about a red crayon who is really blue under his red label. His teacher tries to show him how to be red, his family of crayons has all kinds of advice. But he finally figures out who he really is when he is allowed to draw blue things and he does it beautifully. Great discussion sparker for children on using our strengths and being who we really are. Figure out what we are good at and what we love and spend our time exploring and developing those. You could write a class story on what each child really loves doing, or wants to do when they get older and then have each child illustrate their part of the story.

I found this to be an upbeat, charming tale that is well told and which children would enjoy. Good for mature four-year-olds through seven or eight years of age. And yes, fun to use in a unit on color or in a primary art class.

Kids can so relate to this adorable crayon character! An exploration in emotions, colors, friendships, relationships with well-meaning mentors, trying and failing, not living up to other's expectations, labels, and finding the beauty in oneself. Also, it is funny, cute, and clever; perfect for a read-aloud.

This book is wonderful on so many different levels.

The theme reminds me of the old classic "The Bear That Wasn't," http://www.the store.com/TashlinsThe-Review-Childrens-Collection-Hardcover/dp/B004561ZKO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446585725&sr=1-2&keywords=the+bear+that+wasn%27t
but this one ends on a brighter note.

My 2 boys loved the story, laughed & enjoyed the humor.

Even though they are both well aware of what it means to be transgender, which is all some adults apparently think this story applies to (according to the one star review), my sons didn't read that into this story. It didn't come to their minds. Sure, if I walked them through this story as a metaphor for that (which I may do some day), they could see some positive ways that it applies. But it is a general story that could be used as a metaphor for *all sorts* of situations, if one feels the desire to make a metaphor out of it, and not just enjoy the story. It's a great story in and of itself, apart from all the wonderful different ways that people can use it as a metaphor for their own experiences. It lends itself to be used as a metaphor for any kid who has experienced not fitting the expectations of others, whether it be not learning to read or do math in the same way as other kids (because of dyslexia and/or other learning styles, for instance), or coming from a different culture or life experience as the kids at their school, or simply the inadequacies we all feel about living up to the expectations of others, and the well-meaning help that others offer that is sometimes off the mark...and the marvelous feeling of when someone "gets" us and helps us in just the way we really need.

The book reminds me of the quote "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

I found this book discarded in the Teacher's Lounge. I was looking for a children's book to read to my classes. I teach 6th to 8th grade English, and I am trying to get them love reading again. I read the book and saw a good message. I read it to all of my classes today. They loved it. They noticed things like: the grandparent crayons were silver and grey and very small; the adult crayons were smaller than the children crayons; the things the crayons said, resembled the color of the crayon. The lessons they said they book taught was things like be yourself, keep trying and never give up, don't judge a book by the cover, and what is inside is more important than the outside. And then there was to remember to change your clothes. We discussed the differences in what a child gets from a book versus an older teenager or an adult.

Then, I read some of the reviews; they are all about a transgender message? I just thought wow. I just didn't see it. So I guess, you can use a book for many different purposes. It all depends on your perspective.

I really think we should let kids read the book and find their own message. There is no need to label a book when there are so many different themes,

A blue crayon, mistakenly labeled red, has a hard time of things as he is constantly bombarded by others to be red: his teachers try to get Red to draw strawberries; Red's mother sends him on a playdate with a yellow crayon and tries to convince him to draw an orange with her; the scissors trim his label down, thinking maybe it's too tight. Yet no matter how hard he tries, Red simply cannot be anything other than what he is: blue. Finally, through a new friend who see's him for what he really is, Red finally accepts his blue self and learns to love himself despite the label that others think he should be following.

A charming, clever tale letting kids know that it's ok to be who you are, despite what others say, Michael Hall's Red: A Crayon's Story is a story that adults can enjoy just as much as kids will.

Almost since their very conception children’s books were meant to teach and inform on the one hand, and to inform one's moral fiber on the other. Why who can forget that catchy little 1730 ditty from “The Childe’s Guide” that read, “The idle Fool / Is whipt at School”? It’s got a beat and you can dance to it! And as the centuries have passed children’s books continue to teach and instruct. Peter Rabbit takes an illicit nosh and loses his fancy duds. Pinocchio stretches the truth a little and ends up with a prominent proboscis. Even parents who are sure to fill their shelves with the subversive naughtiness of Max, David, and Eloise are still inclined to indulge in a bit of subterfuge bibliotherapy when their little darling starts biting / hitting / swearing at the neighbors. Instruction, however, is a terribly difficult thing to do in a children’s book. It takes skill and a gentle hand. “When Sophie Gets Angry . . . Very Very Angry” works because the point of the book is couched in beautiful, lively, eye-popping art, and a story that shows rather than tells. But for every “Sophie” there are a hundred didactic tracts that some poor child somewhere is being forced to swallow dry. What a relief then to run across “Red: A Crayon’s Story”. It’s making a point, no doubt about it. But that point is made with a gentle hand and an interesting story, giving the reader the not unpleasant sensation that even if they didn’t get the point of the tale on a first reading, something about the book has seeped deep into their very core. Clever and wry, Hall dips a toe into moral waters and comes out swimming. Sublime.

“He was red. But he wasn’t very good at it.” When a blue crayon in a wrapper labeled “Red” finds himself failing over and over again, everyone around him has an opinion on the matter. Maybe he needs to mix with the other kids more (only, when he does his orange turns out to be green instead). Maybe he just needs more practice. Maybe his wrapper’s not tight enough. Maybe it’s TOO tight. Maybe he’s got to press harder or be sharper. It really isn’t until a new crayon asks him to paint a blue sea that he comes to the shocking realization. In spite of what his wrapper might say, he isn’t red at all. He’s blue! And once that’s clear, everything else falls into place.

A school librarian friend of mine discussed this book with some school age children not too long ago. According to her, their conversation got into some interesting territory. Amongst themselves they questioned why the crayon got the reaction that he did. One kid said it was the fault of the factory that had labeled him. Another kid countered that no, it was the fault of the other crayons for not accepting him from the start. And then one kid wondered why the crayon needed a label in the first place. Now I don’t want to go about pointing out the obvious here but basically these kids figured out the whole book and rendered this review, for all intents and purposes, moot. They got the book. They understand the book. They should be the ones presenting the book.

Because you see when I first encountered this story I applied my very very adult (and very very limited) interpretation to it. A first read and I was convinced that it was a transgender coming-of-age narrative except with, y’know, waxy drawing materials. And I’m not saying that isn’t a legitimate way to read the book, but it’s also a very limited reading. I mean, let’s face it. If Mr. Hall had meant to book to be JUST about transgender kids, wouldn’t it have been a blue crayon in a pink wrapper? No, Hall’s story is applicable to a wide range of people who find themselves incorrectly “labeled”. The ones who are told that they’re just not trying hard enough, even when it’s clear that the usual rules don’t apply. We’ve all known someone like that in our lives before. Sometimes they’re lucky in the way that Red here is lucky and they meet someone who helps to show them the way. Sometimes they help themselves. And sometimes there is no help and the story takes a much sadder turn. I think of those kids, and then I read the ending of “Red” again. It doesn’t help their situation much, but it makes me feel better.

This isn’t my first time on the Michael Hall rodeo, by the way. I liked “My Heart Is Like a Zoo”, enjoyed “Perfect Square”, took to “Cat Tale”, and noted “It’s an Orange Aardvark!” It’s funny, but in a way, these all felt like a prelude to “Red”. As with those books, Hall pays his customary attention to color and shape. Like “Perfect Square” he even mucks with our understood definitions. But while those books were all pleasing to the eye, “Red” makes a sudden lunge for hearts and minds as well. That it succeeds is certainly worth noting.

Now when I was a kid, I ascribed to inanimate objects a peculiar level of anthropomorphizing. A solo game of war turned a deck of cards into a high stakes emotional journey worthy of a telenovela. And crayons? Crayons had their own lives as well. There were a lot of betrayals and broken hearts in my little yellow box. Hall eschews this level of crayon obsession, but in his art I noticed that he spends a great deal of time understanding what a crayon’s existence might entail if they were allowed families and full lives. I loved watching how the points on the crayons would dull or how some crayons were used entirely on a slant, due to the way they colored. I liked how the shorter you are, the older you are (a concept that basically turned my 3-year-old’s world upside down when she tried to comprehend it). I liked how everything that happens to Red stays with him throughout the book. If his wrapper is cut or he’s taped together, that snip and tape stay with him to the end. The result is that by the time he’s figured out his place in the world (and shouldn’t we all be so lucky) he bears the physical cuts and scars that show he’s had a long, hard journey getting to self-acceptance. No mean feat for a book that primarily utilizes just crayon drawings and cut paper, digitally combined.

Not everyone thinks, as I do, that Mr. Hall’s effort is successful. I’ve encountered at least one librarian who told me straight out that she found the book “preachy”. I can see why she’d say that. I mean, it does wear its message on its sleeve. Yet for all that it has a purpose I can’t call it purposeful. What Hall has done so well here is to take a universal story and tell it with objects that almost every reader approaching this book will already be familiar with. These crayons don’t have faces or arms or mouths. They look like the crayons you encounter all the time, yet they live lives that may be both familiar and unfamiliar to readers. And in telling a very simple fish-out-of-water story, it actually manages to make kids think about what the story is actually trying to say. It makes readers work for its point. This isn’t bibliotherapy. It’s bibliodecoding. And when they figure out what’s going on, they get just as much out of it as you might hope. A rare, wonderful title that truly has its child audience in mind. Respectful.

For ages 3 and up.