Michael Hall (8)Besprekingen

A fun way to review colors, narrated through some ants with rather vivid imaginations.

If you do simple crafts at story time, this is great book to share. After you read it, you can give the kids colored squares and let them see what they can make with them!

Genre
Picture books for children
Writing Style
Attention-grabbing
Subject
Color
Crayons
Identity
Self-acceptance

Genre
Picture books for children
Tone
Feel-good
Upbeat
Illustration
Colorful
Subject
Change
Contentment
Happiness
Shapes
Squares

Genre
Humorous stories
Metafiction
Picture books for children
Tone
Silly
Writing Style
Attention-grabbing
Illustration
Textured
Subject
Books and reading
Crayons
Monsters
Pencils
Character
Anthropomorphic

I would recommend this book to students who are in 3rd-5th grade. It is a picture book about inclusivity and how to not judge by the outward appearance and instead the inside. This would be good to have in the classroom because of how it encourages inclusivity and talks about the importance of not judging someone or something by the outward appearance because what's inside is so much more important.

Another great book on gender and trans issues. Presenting this to young children will let them know that it is okay to express your gender in whatever way you need to be comfortable. Used in younger grades, it is a great introduction to trans issues and would lead into George wonderfully in older grades.

The book red was about a blue crayon that wanted to be red. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't do it. Until finally he tried to be blue and he found his true self in doing so.

Red's factory-applied label clearly says that he is red, but despite the best efforts of his teacher, fellow crayons and art supplies, and family members, he cannot seem to do anything right until a new friend offers a fresh perspective.

There are many ways to read this story.
So glad this book exists.

Goodreads Review:
A blue crayon mistakenly labeled as "red" suffers an identity crisis in the new picture book by the New York Times–bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo and It's an Orange Aardvark! Funny, insightful, and colorful, Red: A Crayon's Story, by Michael Hall, is about being true to your inner self and following your own path despite obstacles that may come your way. Red will appeal to fans of Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle, and The Day the Crayons Quit, and makes a great gift for readers of any age!

Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let's draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can't be red, no matter how hard he tries! Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He's blue! This funny, heartwarming, colorful picture book about finding the courage to be true to your inner self can be read on multiple levels, and it offers something for everyone!

This is a great book for teaching acceptance to students, that it is okay to be different. In the story, Red does not feel like the Red and finds it difficult to draw Red things. Red's friends try to help, and from this, Red discovers that it is really Blue. The illustrations help to tell the story, and I would say that the book is great for younger students.

"When a red-labeled crayon discovers he’s actually blue, he finds joy, ebullience and acceptance.

Red tries to be a quintessential red crayon, coloring fire trucks, strawberries, hearts and cherries, but no matter the object, they all turn blue. Fellow crayons begin to gossip. Some say he needs to press harder or grow out of it; others say he’s lazy or unintelligent. The other art supplies offer a makeover, taping and snipping away. But all fail to look beyond Red’s wrapper to what’s inside. Until Berry asks him to draw something blue. When Red succeeds, he feels free! He feels himself, and drawing becomes a delight. The personified crayons change their tune, claiming to have always known his true color. Digital illustrations, done in a graphic, cut-paper style in a primary palette, pop on their white or black backgrounds. And while the crayons themselves are not expressive, Hall’s compositions, manipulation of text, and simulated graphite and crayon markings convey a strong sense of emotion. Finding strength in his difference, Red captures that feeling of ease, self-acceptance and freedom in an exuberant, far-reaching sky.

Smartly designed and appealing, Red’s story offers much for discussion and affirmation. (Picture book. 4-8)" www.kirkusreviews.com

What a story! Cute illustrations with the worker ants wearing hard hats and the aardvark getting more and more interesting as the story unfolds.

This is a clever, clever picture book for older readers.

The colorful geometric animal shapes makes this a wonderful book to read during lapsit and toddler programs. It's a fun book to look at and read. Definitely a thumbs up.

Little i's dot falls off and rolls away, and Little i goes off in search of it - on a question mark boat, through a garden of commas, past an exclamation mark waterfall, through a cave studded with asterisk gems - but when Little i finds its dot, it doesn't fit the way it used to. Little i returns to the rest of the lower-case alphabet, changed.

Cute, clever. See also: Wordplay½

AHHHHHHHH!!! How perfect is this book? I can clearly see what all the fuss is about. You may be born with a label, but all that matters is to be who you are, not who the label is. LOVE everything about this.

Used in Storytime 9/7/17

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For some reason this book isn't quite resonating with me as hard as it's supposed to? I'm probably overthinking it because I'm trying to replace the words "red" and "blue" with "male" and "female" and the whole thing is really falling flat for me. In reading reviews I can see that other people are seeing it as a specific trans* narrative instead of a general be-yourself narrative but in that case it feels really gender role-y to me.

Everyone thinks you're a boy (red) because you look like a boy (red)! But you can't do any of these boy (red) things so you must be broken. In crayon-world it makes sense, but in human world, it feels like they're all saying that if you look like a boy, you should be able to do certain things, and if you can't do them, you're not being "boy" well enough. Which is true, there are lots of things we expect boys to be able to do and if they don't do them, we make fun of them or make them feel bad for not being able to do them. But then the end of the book feels like all the crayons are saying, oh, you're actually a girl (blue)! Of course, now it all makes sense why you couldn't do any of those boy things, because girls can't do those things. But you can do girl things, because you're a girl, so our rigid ideas of what genders are for remain uncontested.

Anyway if I don't think about it too hard I still like the book because it's about a crayon who was sad and then figured out how to be happy and all the crayons in his community supported him, and if I think of it as a general story of identity and acceptance it's cool, but as a trans* narrative it makes me uneasy. Because it's about someone's label not matching their physical appearance and the community being weirded out by that.

I especially liked how one of the art supplies representing medical professionals admits being wrong in their diagnosis.

The perfect square is not so cut and dry. When square is knocked down, he finds a new way to transform. What I love about this book is the many messages that one can take away from it. This book shows the imagination and creativity that one can have in math and geometry. It also has the deeper meaning showing that one never stops evolving and that even when you are down and the odds seem against you, you have the power to choose to turn it around and find the good.½

Red is red, that is it. But Red does not feel like Red and finds it difficult to draw Red things. One day Purple asks Red to draw something blue and at first Red doubts itself but then draws the most beautiful blue picture with ease. Despite the label Red is given, Red discovers that it is really Blue. This book reminded me of George but meant more for a younger audience. It touches on struggling with one's identity and trying to live up to what you are told to be or who you are told you are. It shows that being true to oneself and living honestly and true to who you are is the best way to live. I loved this book. The illustrations and message are beautiful, and I think the message is conveyed perfectly for young students.