Harold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson
Series: Harold #1
Published: 1955
Genres: Childrens
Format: Paperback (64 pages)
Source: Library
"One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight." So begins this gentle story that shows just how far your imagination can take you. Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, young Harold draws himself a landscape full of beauty and excitement. But this is no hare-brained, impulsive flight of fantasy. Cherubic, round-headed Harold conducts his adventure with the utmost prudence, letting his imagination run free, but keeping his wits about him all the while.
I’m trying to read more books from my to-read list and I happened to see Harold and the Purple Crayon at the library. It was on my to-read list only because it was mentioned on Gilmore Girls. But my 4 year-old son saw it and wanted to read it with me. So we read it together and he enjoyed it a lot. Which of course means we read it about 5 more times. It is an adorable, creative book with a cute message about imagination and finding home. My review is probably longer than the book itself, but I really wanted to feature it on my blog because the day after I read this book to my son, I found a huge stack of drawings, all in purple, and they are clearly inspired by the book. It was touching to me that a book would stick with him that much. So I decided to share all the drawings he did that I could find. You’ll notice in a lot of the drawings that there are two people. The other person is his older brother who he considers his best friend.
Click images to view them larger.
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- House, hot air ballon and the moon
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- Tree and a ferris wheel?? My son says he doesn’t know what it is :)
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- 4 year old and brother riding in balloons
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- 4 year old under the night sky with stars and the moon while holding his purple crayon
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- 4 year old is sad because he “fell off the cliff”
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- 4 year old in the boat with the moon
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- 4 year old, house, tree and moon
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- 4 year old found his room and is sleeping in his bed
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- 4 year old and brother playing
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- 4 year old and a bush (“It’s not a tree, mom”)
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- 4 year old sad that he can’t find home
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- My 4 year old and his brother imagining something
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- A house
Content Rating: None. Clean read.
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About Crockett Johnson
Crockett Johnson (1906-1975) was the writer and/or illustrator of over 20 books for children, including his beloved classic HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON (Harper, 1955), as well as seven subsequent adventures starring Harold, and THE CARROT SEED, written by his wife, Ruth Krauss (Harper, 1945). He was also the creator of "Barnaby," one of the most popular comic-strips of the Twentieth Century. (A Barnaby selection appears in LITTLE LIT: STRANGE STORIES FOR STRANGE KIDS, Harper, 2001.)
Mr. Johnson received his art training at New York University and Cooper Union, and in his later years exhibited a series of geometric paintings, which were well-received by both the mathematical and artistic communities.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
I love Harold and the Purple Crayon! And how cute is that with your son’s drawings.
CUTENESS!
I have such great childhood memories of this book and then bought it for my kids a couple years back. It’s just a great book!