Red: A Crayon’s Story

Red is a crayon, and children will see his problem right away: his label reads “red,” but he’s blue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s a poor performer in school, where his drawings are expected to be red. Hall (It’s an Orange Aardvark!) has a fine ear for dialogue, and the overly cheerful encouragement Red endures will sound familiar to any child who’s struggled to perform: “I’ll draw a red strawberry, then you draw a red strawberry,” coaches the scarlet crayon. “You can do this. Really!” But a page turn reveals two rows of strawberries, one scarlet and the other... blue. A Greek chorus of grown-up crayons lined up across a black spread makes patronizing comments: “He’s got to press harder.” “Really apply himself!” Only when Red is at his wit’s end does he meet Berry, a crayon who actually sees him. “Will you make a blue ocean for my boat?” Berry asks quietly, and that’s all it takes to change Red’s life. Stories about accepting differences abound, but this one delivers its message in an unexpectedly affecting way. Ages 4–8. [em]Agent: Anna Olswanger, Olswanger Literary. (Feb.) [/em]