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 a celebrated newspaper cartoonist — his strip Barnaby was a 1940s sensation — who gave children's literature its purest metaphor for imagination: one boy, one purple crayon, one line that makes the world.
Johnson and his wife, author Ruth Krauss, formed one of the great picture-book households; late in life he turned to painting geometric theorems, as spare and elegant as Harold's line.
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.