Cover Image: The Life of a Crayon

The Life of a Crayon

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I will never throw another crayon away. This was the sweetest book and should absolutely be in every little ones library. I can’t get over the cuteness. Also wow those illustrations! So pretty

Was this review helpful?

The Life of a crayon," tells us a story of a green crayon and his life journey growing "Down". The chalky-like illustration contributes much vibrancy that will draw the readers to engage in the story. I love how Green gets a happy ending. The Life of a Crayon will be an ideal gift for young readers.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Christopher Willard, and to Shambhala Publications Inc. for providing me an opportunity to read this beautiful book in advance.

Was this review helpful?

The Life of a Crayon is an adorable children's book about a green crayon. The crayon is able to be so many different things through all the pictures it contributes to. Unlike children, who grow up, the crayon grows down as his life goes on.

This book was whimsical, sweet, and cute. I won't spoil the ending, but found it very unexpected in the best possible way. I loved the illustrations and how many of them were drawings that the green crayon had made.

My one critique of this book is that the main character, the green crayon, was always very small and sometimes not on the page. Especially in the beginning of the book, I would love to see a large, personified green crayon that children can follow along with.

Was this review helpful?

A sweet book that inspires imagination in children. The ending was adorable as well and I love how the author used the crayon to bridge generations from the girls grandparents receiving pictures down to her own daughter.

Was this review helpful?

The Life of a Crayon is a heartwarming story! It is told from the perspective of the green crayon and tells of all the adventures it had in its life. This book provides an opportunity to talk about growing up, being creative, and recycling. I am excited to read this book with my 3rd graders because of its message and beautiful illustrations.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy.

Was this review helpful?

Grab your crayon boxes, perhaps some tissue, and be ready for a read that will definitely tug at your heart strings! Have I mentioned that GREEN is my favorite color?! 💚

The Life of a Crayon is the latest picture book in #GGsBookStack and one you’ll definitely want to add to your bookshelves!

A little about this gem of a read…

Sadie Mae is gifted a box of crayons for her birthday and quickly becomes fond of the color Green. 💚

Their journey together marks for one of celebration, creativity, learning lessons and skills along the way, and creating a world together.

But like all things, good things come to an end…or maybe not. Green teaches Sadie Mae and readers about the concept on how some gifts just keep giving. 😭💚

What else to love about this endearing book? 💚

✅ The embedded themes of connections, cycles, growing up, dealing with change, and leaving your mark.

✅ The lovely, lovely illustrations (watercolor, chalk, color pencils) that are delightful, intricate, warm, and inviting. The colorful illustrations include child-like sketches that simply steal your heart.

✅The attention to details (e.g., the French Press sitting on the kitchen table as the grandparents enjoy a cup of coffee while marveling over the illustrations sent to them, and later seeing a portrait of Sadie’s grandmother on an end table).

✅ The storyline that is so relatable to both children and adults.

✅The emotions evoked with the turning of EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE. 😭🥰😊🥹



Be on the lookout for this pick! It’s coming to bookshelves next month on February 28th! 💚
Happy reading, book friends! 💝

👋🏼 A special thanks to @shambhala_publications and @netgalley for the digital ARC.


#kidlit #picturebooks #picturebookoftheday #TheLifeOfACrayon #PawsomeRead #LitLoveFriyay #TrinityEliteEdu #literacy #books #bookstagram

Was this review helpful?

This picture book has soft, colorful illustrations. They seem childlike in nature, and are complemented by the many crayon drawings that appear throughout the story, as the girl uses her set of crayons and they get increasingly worn down. The story comes from the perspective of the green crayon.

The book ends with the girl growing up. When she has a child, she rediscovers her old crayons, and she comes up with a creative solution to use the ones that are too worn down to color with. It's a creative story with nice themes about creativity, change, and growing up, but the compressed timeline seemed a little too abrupt.

Was this review helpful?

- This book, although it is about how a crayon is used up, could be a good way to explore the circle of life with older students. I like that you could talk about how books have a surface level meaning and then can be used to teach a metaphor for life lesson as well if you dig a little deeper.

Was this review helpful?

This book is about the growth and acceptance of your path and shows how change can be a good thing from the eyes of a crayon. So many great themes to discuss with students from a perspective they would understand.

Was this review helpful?

Green crayon belongs to Sadie. They grow up together creating beautiful drawings. They go to school, make friends, and learn numbers.
As time goes on green starts to west down but even as he gets smaller, he knows he’s leaving a small piece of himself behind in every drawing he makes.

This is a cute story of the life cycle of a crayon and the girl he belongs to. The illustrations include colorful drawings throughout created by crayon himself. 5is is perfect for young budding artists, art classrooms, or any child inspired by art!

Was this review helpful?

Ummm.. is someone chopping onions. What a emotional book…sobbing! This is definitely a new favorite children’s book. I loved it so much. It was a beautiful story about a crayon’s journey “ getting smaller and smaller” and by leaving it’s mark in the world around them through artwork. It was such a sweet message. I can’t wait to read it to my littles and will be purchasing copies to send to friends.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

The life of a crayon is never boring and crayons forever live with us. This is the story reminded to me by The Life of a Crayon. It's a wonderful reminder of how our art can be anything and everything while leaving a lasting impression and memory on our hearts forever. This inspirational story captivated my children, ages 7 through 2, as we went through Green's life and the pictures and memories he made.

Thank you, NetGalley and Shambhala Publications, Inc, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this beautiful children's story.

Was this review helpful?

5 ⭐️

Don't mind me while I cut onions over here... my goodness the amount of emotions this little green crayon brought out in me feels so irrational haha.

This follows the story of a green crayon. When the crayon is new it's big and long, but over the years as it gets smaller the green crayon gets smaller and smaller to just a nub. While the girl continues to grow up. It's ok though as crayon hasn't reached it's end. It has made its mark in this world and is remembered by the pictures that were created.

This was such a sweet story and I loved it. I think my kids would also love it. What killed me though was the picture of the grandma at the end with the crayon. I'm not sure if the author was going for this but I saw it as how the grandma also made her mark on the world with her family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Shambhala Publishing for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to my instagram page the.littlest.bookworm and retail sites on or near publication date.

Was this review helpful?

Not me over here getting emotional over a crayon! What a beautiful story about things coming full circle, and the explorations through life. I found the illustrations to be very fun to look at with lots of little details in each page. Green was a “character” who was easy to love and root for. This was such a charming story and one I will repeat with my children through the years. Excellent work here, a new family favorite.

Was this review helpful?

This charming book documents the life journey of a green crayon and its owner.

"When Green arrives in a crayon box as a present to a little girl, he has no idea of the impact he will have on her life in small but profound and meaningful ways."


Green shares his adventures and feelings as he travels through life. Unfortunately he grows shorter and shorter as the little girl grows taller and taller each year.

The reader is invited to join them on their journey of creativity. As life progresses Green shrinks small and smaller but is never out of reach of his owner's loving hands. He definitely is the favourite colour in her crayon box above all the other colours present.

The now grown-up girl has a child of her own and is able to retain Green even longer by blending the remains of her old worn-out crayons together and making them into a beautiful candle for her son to enjoy.

I love this heartwarming sweet story and the illustrations are lovely to behold and very kid-friendly. The book lends itself to discussing colours, the aging process and recycling. This colourful story will have you re-assessing the value and love of the crayons in your own crayon box. What"s your favourite colour? I highly recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

What a sweet gorgeous heartwarming story! The book follows the life of a green crayon and in turn follows the life of a young woman. Such a beautiful perspective of growing up and the drawing continuum. So many things you could explore with this book from colour to aging to waste and recycling! A great provocative read for the elementary/primary classroom.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

The Life of a Crayon
4 Stars

This is an interesting book, told from a Green's perspective.

Green takes us on his adventures and shows us where he and his little girl left their footprints throughout her life. We learn how a crayon grows shorter with age, while the human girl grows up. The Life of a Crayon helps kids and their families cope with life changes, the challenges of growing up. In a non-threatening way.

I love the colorful, child-like illustrations. I like that this book encourages you not to throw away old crayons. Recycle them! Melt them down to make a candle or use molds to make cut crayons into neat shapes.

Thank you, NetGalley and Shambhala Publications Inc, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Was this review helpful?

This was a cute children’s book about 1 crayon that was used over the years and repurposed into a candle at the end when he was too small to be used. Very cute children’s book with illustrations.

Was this review helpful?

I loved the illustrations. The story just didn’t do it for me. I know it was supposed to be up,ifting, but I found it to be very sad. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital advanced copy. This book tells the story of Green and his life as a crayon. The illustrations were wonderful, and I think this would be great for kids. I loved the ending, where the now grown-up girl puts the remnants of her old crayons into a candle for her son. This was a very sweet book and exceeded my expectations!

Was this review helpful?