When you find a book like How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow you know one of three things: First: you will love it because every little piece speaks to you or Second: you will hate it as you cannot figure out even the story line to a satisfactory conclusion.
The third option is that gray area. Which means a little of both. Which means you got the point of the story: without color everything is gray. But it did not speak to you as loudly as it might have.
Feronia Parker-Thomas’s made illustrations that are sweet and slightly different (they look like a crayon drew them) but the story was a little flat and a bit sugary-sweet. Yet, Monica Sweeney’s story is not “bad,” it just did not find the right audience with me.
The story is about color and how it adds to our lives. When the sun and a cloud have a fight, their loss of friendship makes it hard for the world to be happy and drains the color out of everything. Without color things can become gray. This depression of the world can become grand again when there is a rainbow back in the sky. But who can make color? The one lone colorful box of crayons knows what to do.
The taking of a complex theme and putting it in a more simplistic manner is a daunting task. Therefore, I enjoyed the story but do not consider it one of my favorites simply because it was not what I was looking for. However, I think this is a “mood” book. Was I in a colorful mood or not at the time of reading? Therefore, adults, take time to digest this book, find it again and try a second time.
The kid’s reaction? Up to the child themselves. Maybe they will like the funny crayons. Maybe they will like the color. Maybe they will think, “Another crayon story?” Ages 3 to 5 can sit and enjoy the colors and ages 5 up can start to appreciate the story. How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow is a book that must be experienced individually. Even by the child reader.