Title: Harold and the Purple Crayon
Author and Illustrator: Crockett Johnson
Type: Picture Book
Grade Level: K-2
Rating: 5 out of 5
Harold and the Purple Crayon is about young Harold who decides to take up his large purple crayon and go for a nighttime walk. Whatever Harold imagines he can create with his purple crayon and so ensues the adventure.
If you ask anyone who has read Harold and the Purple Crayon if they liked it you will get a similar reaction to this- "Yes! I loved that book when I was younger!" It is exactly what I say when asked about the book. It brings back warm memories of reading the book with my sister and mom and then doing purple crayon drawings of our own.
Although the illustrations are simple they are fantastic. They portray Harold's childish capability to draw as well portray his thoughts. The pictures tell what the story at times does not. I read this book with my child study student and at the point when Harold was frightened by the monster and his hand started shaking she looked at the illustration and exclaimed, "Oh no! He is drawing water! He can't swim and he is going to drown!" Based on the pictures she was able to predict what was going to happen next. She didn't know if he could swim or not but she added her own details to the story. It wasn't until the next page that the text explains Harold's shaking hand accidentally drew water. So from my experience with my child study student I saw that this book would be great for working on predictions and from my own experience I know that pairing the book with a fun coloring activity is a great idea for younger students reading the book.
If you ask anyone who has read Harold and the Purple Crayon if they liked it you will get a similar reaction to this- "Yes! I loved that book when I was younger!" It is exactly what I say when asked about the book. It brings back warm memories of reading the book with my sister and mom and then doing purple crayon drawings of our own.
Although the illustrations are simple they are fantastic. They portray Harold's childish capability to draw as well portray his thoughts. The pictures tell what the story at times does not. I read this book with my child study student and at the point when Harold was frightened by the monster and his hand started shaking she looked at the illustration and exclaimed, "Oh no! He is drawing water! He can't swim and he is going to drown!" Based on the pictures she was able to predict what was going to happen next. She didn't know if he could swim or not but she added her own details to the story. It wasn't until the next page that the text explains Harold's shaking hand accidentally drew water. So from my experience with my child study student I saw that this book would be great for working on predictions and from my own experience I know that pairing the book with a fun coloring activity is a great idea for younger students reading the book.
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