Harold and the Purple Crayon
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the The Why-Askers stage.
Why it fits The Why-Askers (for preschoolers whose every page sparks a question)
Harold draws his world into existence one purple line at a time. Pure what-if: the child as author of reality. Sixty-plus years old and still the best argument for a crayon.
What makes it special
Harold authors his world and must solve every problem he draws himself into — creation with consequences. One purple line on white pages remains among the most elegant premises in all of children's literature. In an age of infinite content, it champions the opposite: one child, one crayon, everything.
From the publisher
"Harold loves animals so much that he decides to find out what it's like to be one. Join Harold and an elephant, a camel, a herd of cheetahs, and a slippery bunch of penguins on this wildlife adventure in his…
About Crockett Johnson
Crockett Johnson (1906–1975) was the pen name of David Johnson Leisk, a cartoonist whose comic strip Barnaby ran in the newspaper PM from 1942 to 1952 and made him famous before he wrote Harold and the Purple Crayon.
He was married to the children's author Ruth Krauss, with whom he made The Carrot Seed; from 1965 until his death he painted more than a hundred works based on mathematics, eighty of which are now at the National Museum of American History.
Also by this author: Harold's Fairy Tale · A Picture for Harold’s Room
More from “What If and Why Not”
This book is part of The Best Books for Preschoolers: 30 Teacher Picks (The Why-Askers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.