There's often a adult twist, as in the illustration for Pink's letter, which complains that Duncan might be stereotyping Pink as a 'girl's color." The drawing is of a pink dinosaur laughing at an embarrassed pink monster and a cowboy in pink chaps and vest. Add a drop or two of water to the juice from half a lemon. Then, use a Q-tip to write a secret message on a blank, white piece of paper. Allow to fully dry. I had to press pretty hard and go over my lines a few times as my white crayon had been broken into a tiny little nub. Like every toddler with newly found mobility, she was curious and constantly getting into things we didn't want her to.

Using a white crayon to draw pictures or write secret messages on a white piece of paper is the easiest invisible ink technique. This is safe for all ages. You reveal the message by painting over the crayon with watercolor. Invisible Ink – Baking Soda Did you know that you can write secret messages with white crayons and watercolors? The technique is called color resist, and it produces some beautiful effects that will wow your kids. We’ve also used food coloring. Just put a few drops into a tablespoon of water. The only caveat here is the food coloring can stain, so use with caution! Your Turn: Make Crayon Resist Art!The vinegar invisible ink technique is best for older children and must be supervised as using heat (from a candle or another source) could be dangerous for younger children. Use your best judgment. Invisible Ink – Milk The lemon juice invisible ink technique is best for older children and must be supervised as using heat (from a candle or another source) could be dangerous for younger children. Use your best judgment. Invisible Ink – Vinegar

To reveal the message, carefully hold the paper above a candle, letting the heat reveal the message.Hysterical story of a poor, little boy who goes to school to discover numerous handwritten (in crayon of course) aggrieved letters from his crayons. They are pissed off. Some are being used too much (blue) some are not being used at all (white) and some are in disputes with one another (orange vs. yellow). Much drama in the crayon box and they have all decided to QUIT. Draw or write on the watercolor paper with a white crayon. You can write the message before the activity and have your kid reveal it with watercolors. My kids wanted to write their own. Just make sure you press hard enough to get enough wax on the paper. Yellow Crayon and Orange Crayon each write in separately, seemingly they each believe they are the "true" color of the sun. This book was mentioned in a conversation here on Goodreads, with a link to a reading on Youtube, so I watched it. And I kinda loved it.

It's me, RED crayon. WE NEED to talk. You make me work harder than any of your other crayons. All year long I wear myself out coloring FIRE ENGINES, apples, strawberries, and EVERYTHING ELSE that's RED. I even work on holidays! I have to color all the Santas at Christmas and ALL the hearts on Valentine's day! I NEED A REST! The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because even though the story was pretty interesting, the letters that the crayons wrote to Duncan tend to be extremely long and it made me a bit frustrated since I think that the humor in the letters still would have been there, if they were to shorten the letters down to a few sentences and still get the crayons’ points across.

Diaries & Calendars

The book is short, as most children's books are, so the reading was only 7 minutes long, but I almost wish that it was longer, that the pictures were shown more, and that I could really appreciate the art that these crayons produced. They give of themselves, and only ask to be appreciated and fairly used in return... but when they feel mistreated, they decide to demand better treatment. Until then, they tender their resignation. When you think about spending time with your toddler, we want you to have that bubbly, excited feeling in your belly, not a feeling of dread. I guess some reviewers find the crayons too "whiny," but I see nothing wrong with an inanimate object objecting to being used improperly. And, Duncan's crayons have a litany of complaints from overuse to who makes a better sun - yellow or orange. And the poor peach crayon - it's all naked 'cos Duncan peeled off its paper! Stop the presses--the best new Children's book of 2013 is in and it is "The Day the Crayons Quit", no arguments. Above, you can see (from top to bottom) the results from: lemon juice, milk, and vinegar invisible ink.

Despite my few reservations, I do highly recommend the book, either for read aloud (one to one or for groups) and for independent readers too, if their reading skills are sufficiently advanced to be able to read slightly atypically written letters in various colors. The milk invisible ink technique is best for older children and must be supervised as using heat (from a candle or another source) could be dangerous for younger children. Use your best judgment.

More in Books

This is all apropos of nothing, except to say that the book was worth the trip . . . and putting up with Joe. In it we learn that Duncan's crayons are not happy. And what better way for crayons to express their disapproval than by leaving handwritten notes for their owner to find. I loved the authors unique concept. So many children's books tend repeat the same themes these days.