The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons

I sincerely hope that the Crayola Crayon remains a near universal childhood experience. I well remember that we all started with the flat pack of 8<?> colors. Then slowly the larger packs began separating the cool and kids . Clearly the first step in making us all class conscious was the advent of the larger pack . Just having many crayons in the box was cool but so last year once the giant box came out with an included crayon sharpener. Lots of crayons in a box eventually became over kill, besides it was always the same basics that got turned into stubs. A sixty-four crayon box was cool, but everyone needed another: blue or red or white(clouds what else?), and the sun alone could eat up tons of yellow.Natascha Biebow with illustrator Steven Salerno have produced in The Crayon Man what has to be the only way to tell the story of Edwin Binney and cousin C. Harold Smith and the invention of the Crayola Crayon. Of course, it is lavishly illustrated in the Crayola colors and of course sometimes the colors go outside the lines.I well remember being kept after school because I tended to scribble when I was filling in large areas in a drawing. Never quite figure out why that mattered and am not sure I ever got it right. No sense asking mom about it , she agreed with my first grade teach. Mrs. Adams if you are out there, I still managed to get graduate degrees and a decent career. Just not as an artist.The book is short, as becomes a children’s book but get this: It is also researched, bibliography and all! It is one an adult may have to read with their children. There is some vocabulary and some ideas that may require some explaining. This is a good thing. The experience of crayons is something the adults and the child share. Having a book that can appeal to both and maybe promote the sharing crayon stories are part of the charm of The Crayon man.

Bought to investigate if it would make a good gift. The story is short enough to keep the child’s attention and detailed enough for an adult to enjoy. I liked how the color words were bolded to emphasize the colors and this would be a great book to teach colors. The pictures are also really well done, colorful, and pleasant. I think this will make a great gift.

This just arrived today as part of a gift for my son's 1st Grade teacher, and I love it so much I placed a second order for our house!I might summarize a sentence here or there for my 4yo if I see his attention drifting, but I think it's still good for pre-K. It'll be great for lower grades, and I could see reading this to even a middle school class as an example of how a researched nonfiction book can still be entertaining.

This lovely book is full of energy and beautiful pictures and information! I don’t know if this book is more fun for the adults reading it to the child or the child who is listening to the story.

The book tells the story of Binney and Smith who decided to make a safe, colorful, drawing crayon for children. The process takes the reader from their very first idea to successful box of colorful crayons complete with all the challenges and setbacks. A great book to follow an idea process from inception to great end result. I bring chalk, crayons, and paper when I read it with children so they can see and feel the difference in the products.

My daughter and I are huge fans of Crayola products so I had to get her this book as soon as I saw it, and it is awesome! I love how the author tells a wonderful story easy enough for a child to follow, while still providing interesting facts and information along the way to make it engrossing for an adult too. Highly recommend especially for budding scientists and engineers who want to know how things are made!

It was really good and it was really great that he did it because I use them everyday for school

I purchased this book to teach a group of 2nd graders about inventors. One of my soon to graduate college kindergarteners asked if I would work with her group of students through a Zoom lesson on an inventor of my choice. I already knew the main inventors would already be taught; so, I took a different approach and went with an inventor I knew she would not have introduced. This book is darling!!! It will entertain all audiences, and since all school age children know about one of their loved art tools, the crayon, they will thoroughly enjoy the creation of them. I paired this up with, “The Day the Crayons Quit” and a new box of Crayola brand crayons for each of her students, and, BAM, the lesson was a hit!

this was a gift for my granddaughter, she seemed to really enjoy the true reason that colorful crayons were invented.

Wonderfully illustrated and amazing story about how one of the most ubiquitous tools in a child’s life - colour crayons - came to be. Really great realisation for kids that things that are all around them did not just always exist, it took a very creative person to invent it. Loved this book to bits.

Questo libro ricco di bellissime illustrazioni, racconta in modo semplice e divertente le intuizioni di un uomo che ha fondato la più famosa azienda di colori al mondo: Crayola.

We all use Crayons, but I didn't know about the story behind them. This was fun for the kids, especially the bit at the end with the 'behind the scenes' peek inside the factory today. really well written too!