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A review by jen_the_librarian13
Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
5.0
I suppose this review has spoilers...if a picture book can have spoilers...
On the surface it's a heartwarming story about a crayon whose label says "red" but is really blue.
Dig a little deeper and it's a story about being true to yourself and learning who you are.
Let's go one more level, and I don't know if this is how it was intended by the author or not but this is how I instantly saw the book before I even opened the cover: This is a book about/for kids struggling with gender identity. As a librarian I see the subject headings that it's given and "identity (psychology)" is one, but of course it couldn't say "gender identity" because crayons don't have genders.
His whole life he was told he was red. "It says red on his label." "He came that way from the factory." AKA. He was make red, therefore he must be red. His label couldn't be a mistake and he's really a different color inside. (READ: He was born a boy. His physical appearance couldn't possibly be a mistake and he's really a girl inside) His family and friends try to fix him with tape, and scarves, and encouragement to really try at being red "draw a red strawberry" "Why don't you two go our and draw a nice, round orange?". He tries, but he just can't be red and draw red things...because he's BLUE.
I swear I could sense this crayon's depression progress each time he failed at drawing something red. I actually thought "OMG he's going to throw himself in the crayon sharpener or something! Wait that can't happen, it's a kid's book." Because no one ever said "Look! His strawberries are blue, he must be blue!" Just like so many people don't say "Look he loves dresses, and growing his hair long, and maybe he's actually a girl."
But his new friend Berry saves the day by asking him to draw an ocean and suddenly people realize he isn't red after all. I wanted to cheer for joy over this little mislabeled crayon who had found himself.
On the surface it's a heartwarming story about a crayon whose label says "red" but is really blue.
Dig a little deeper and it's a story about being true to yourself and learning who you are.
Let's go one more level, and I don't know if this is how it was intended by the author or not but this is how I instantly saw the book before I even opened the cover: This is a book about/for kids struggling with gender identity. As a librarian I see the subject headings that it's given and "identity (psychology)" is one, but of course it couldn't say "gender identity" because crayons don't have genders.
His whole life he was told he was red. "It says red on his label." "He came that way from the factory." AKA. He was make red, therefore he must be red. His label couldn't be a mistake and he's really a different color inside. (READ: He was born a boy. His physical appearance couldn't possibly be a mistake and he's really a girl inside) His family and friends try to fix him with tape, and scarves, and encouragement to really try at being red "draw a red strawberry" "Why don't you two go our and draw a nice, round orange?". He tries, but he just can't be red and draw red things...because he's BLUE.
I swear I could sense this crayon's depression progress each time he failed at drawing something red. I actually thought "OMG he's going to throw himself in the crayon sharpener or something! Wait that can't happen, it's a kid's book." Because no one ever said "Look! His strawberries are blue, he must be blue!" Just like so many people don't say "Look he loves dresses, and growing his hair long, and maybe he's actually a girl."
But his new friend Berry saves the day by asking him to draw an ocean and suddenly people realize he isn't red after all. I wanted to cheer for joy over this little mislabeled crayon who had found himself.