A Day with No Crayons
by Elizabeth Rusch; illustrated by Chad Cameron
Rising Moon
First, a lesson on how to remove crayons from walls. And another. Importantly, you get your budding Picasso to do this greasy work. I say the punishment's gotta clean up the crime.
If the Mommy in this story did that, however, we wouldn't get to see daughter Liza's eyes open to the color around her after her precious crayons are taken away. Her world turns gray, thanks to Cameron's deft interpretation of the text.
Liza starts to see jolts of color--first toothpaste, then mud on a playground, and finally flowers in the park. Soon, she's off creating again, mushing leaves of different hues into an improvised tree drawing, or scraping a brick against the sidewalk.
We learn her favorite crayon colors, note a few homages to artists like Jackson Pollock, root for her to keep exploring--and wonder who she thinks is going to get the stains off her clothes.
Rush has written a sweet testament to the irrepressible creativity in children, tossing in a dash of rebelliousness for added fun.
Rating: *\*\*\
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