The Day the Crayons Quit written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers has won the younger children category and is also the overall winner of the Red House Children’s Book Award! Very well deserved I say. Everyone loves this humorous picture book about a set of crayons who each write a letter to their owner bemoaning either their overuse or lack of use. It’s a great book for prompting letter writing and creative writing and is also a useful text to use for exploring diversity. Who says you should always colour the grass green or the sky blue?
The winner of the younger readers category was Demon Dentist by David Walliams and the winner of the award for older readers was Split Second by Sophie McKenzie. The Red House Children’s Book Awards are the only national awards that are voted for entirely by children so they are a really good indicator of books your class will probably enjoy.
Yeah. and well deserved…. wherever I use this book in sessions all the students love it too!
If you like The Day the Crayons Quit, you might also enjoy other books which explore colour such as:
Crayon by Simon Rickerty
Mix it Up by Hervé Tullet
Or other titles which have elements of metafiction such as:
Help! We Need a Title by Hervé Tullet where the characters of an unfinished book realise that the reader (you) has started reading the book so they scramble to try and put a story together.
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett where a child writes and draws an exciting action story over the top of the boring bunny book given to them as a present from their grandma.
The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf and Grandma’s Wardrobe by Christyan Fox and Diane Fox where a cat is reading a well known fairytale to a dog who frequently interrupts with imaginative scenarios and questions about the tale.
I love this book too! I was lucky enough to have Oliver Jeffers sign it at his book talk a few years ago at Brighton Dome. His illustrations are brilliant, and his books are easy and fun to share with children.
Some great suggestions up there on the list… Thank you.
Lucky you! He’s a pretty cool guy too. Check out his acceptance video!
Sorry, the link didn’t come through
http://youtu.be/n980DowuO7s