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You know and love his delightful picture book, The Day the Crayons Quit, and its sequel, but did you know that Drew spent years working in film, particularly horror films?

Maybe because he grew up in a haunted house in western Ohio?He has the pictures to prove it! (They are very good photos.) Besides domestic hauntings, Drew saw STAR WARS when he was 7 and knew at that moment he wanted to make stories for the screen. He went to Emerson College and became a film major... But he happened to take a writing class from Jack Gantos (!) who told Drew he had a voice for kid's books. But Drew didn't listen. Yet.

Eventually he DID start writing for kids, on TV shows like Buzz Lightyear and Timon and Pumbaa.

But the world of Hollywood and screenwriting is pretty cutthroat and in a down moment, Drew gave writing a non-screen story a try and was looking around his office for inspiration when he saw something. He still has the box of crayons that inspired hims to write The Day the Crayons Quit, a box that was magically on his adult man desk with his other, adult man office supplies.

It may seem like Drew's NYT Bestseller List success was overnight, but like most overnight successes, it took ten years: In 2003 he submitted the manuscript to his agent, a manuscript which did not get picked up until 2009, and which was finally published in 2013.

The librarian who asked Drew to do his first school visit is in the audience! He loved the experience so much, and the children's book industry is so unlike the butt-kicking world of screenwriting, that he's very much embraced his new found title as Children's Book Writer. Drew loves that the children's book industry takes stands, finds the meaningful in the meaningless.

Some final quotes from Drew:

"Every story has been told, that's what you hear every day in Hollywood and here, but it's your story that matters, your voice—your princess story, your pirate story..."

"When you write something and you hand it to something, it's like standing there, buck naked saying, 'HEY! You like it?'"

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Our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is one of our all-time favorite books: Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell!

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Ooh, the weather outside is ... perfect for snuggling inside with one of these best selling picture books. Snow, by Cynthia Rylant, is this month's best selling picture book from our affiliate store—it's a beautiful book.

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Take a look at Publishers Weekly (PW) editors' choices of 2015 best books to discover outstanding new titles. The lists include picture books, middle-grade, and young adult books.

The picture books range from well-known authors such as Drew Daywalt (The Day The Crayons Came Home) and Dave Eggers (This Bridge Will Not Be Gray) and Mordicai Gerstein (The Night World) to debut authors such as Guojing (The Only Child), who writes about growing up under China's one-child policy.

Middle-grade books include bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson (My Diary from the Edge of the World) and the amazing Brian Selznick (The Marvels).

Young adult titles range from a nonfiction title by M. T. Anderson (Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad) to Chicago-area writer Laura Ruby's new novel (Bone Gap). 

For more information visit PW or click on any of the above links.

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Autumn is a beautiful time for reading. Award-winning Nana in the City, by Lauren Castillo, is this month's best selling picture book from our affiliate store—it's a delightful selection for fall.

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It only takes a couple of beautiful autumn days and the holiday season suddenly feel so much closer. Readers are not wasting time getting into the holiday spirit: this month, our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the delightful rendition of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

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There must be some kind of magic in the air because we've arrived at Friday again and according to my calculations it's still LAST Friday!

In addition, it has somehow become October!  Who is in charge around here???!!!

This, of course, is a good thing.  October is full of fresh apples (and apple crisp, apple pie, apple cake, apple cider donuts, etc...), beautiful foliage, lovely days and cool nights, Columbus Day (which, if we're honest, is just an excuse for a day off from school and if you're lucky, work because I'm quite sure Columbus didn't actually "discover America" on the second Monday in October :)), the Sheep & Wool Festival (if you happen to live in New York's Hudson Valley), pumpkin carving (which means... you got it... pumpkin pie! :)), miniature candy that doesn't have any calories because it's tiny (seriously, if you can eat it in one bite it doesn't count!), and the Halloweensie Contest!!! (info coming soon!) among other awesomeness.  (And apparently I'm hungry because looking at that list I see a prevalence of dessert items :))  Here's to an awesome October for all!

Today's Perfect Picture Book is also awesome (although not necessarily for dessert :))  I hope you like it!

Title: The Day The Crayons Came Home
Written By: Drew Daywalt
Illustrated By: Oliver Jeffers
Philomel Books, August 2015, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: concepts (colors), emotions, humor

Opening: "One day, Duncan and his crayons were happily coloring together when a strange stack of postcards arrived for him in the mail..."

Brief Synopsis: Duncan, dedicated colorer that he is, has managed to misplace a number of his crayons, so they write him postcards hoping to return home.

Links To Resources: Optics For Kids (explorations on what makes color); Color Games (see the first two listed - the rest are for other skills); lots of things to color!

Why I Like This Book: Sometimes the first book in a series is good, and the second disappoints.  Not so with this one :)  Full of humor, it is as creative, fun and entertaining as its predecessor, The Day The Crayons Quit (reviewed HERE)  Those crayons might have quit in the past, but they still want to live with Duncan!  (Well, except for Pea Green Crayon knows that NO ONE likes pea green, so he's got a new life plan :).)  Maroon Crayon got left in the couch and sat on by Dad.  Yellow and Orange Crayons had an unfortunate accident that left neither of them wanting to be the color of the sun any more.  Neon Red Crayon is determined to make it home but has a very questionable grasp of geography :)  Even one of Duncan's younger brother's toddler crayons gets in on the action!  You won't want to miss the postcards from the left-behind crayons, or Duncan's usual inspired solution to making them all feel at home!  (And you'll enjoy seeing where some of the postcards are from... places like "Greetings From Under The Couch" or "Hello From The Rug" :))

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you and see what wonderful books you've chosen for us this week!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!! :)

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The Day the Crayons Came Home

By Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

For all young readers who relished the reading of “The Day the Crayons Quit” and realized that crayons, like humans, have rich interior lives – and feelings, here is the follow up picture book called, “The Day the Crayons Came Home.”

Those put upon colors are at it again, and as the special seal on the cover conveys, this companion edition to the original crayon complainers, “contains a special Glow in the Dark drawing.” Fun!

Well, a plethora of postcards are heading young Duncan’s way from each of the ill treated crayons that are either flung here or there or left in the lurch.

Maroon is a great fall color featured in fashion mags everywhere, so even Maroon Crayon whose mournful story, of being lost beneath the cushions of the couch, and taped and paper clipped together, should be assuaged from high dudgeon – for a bit! Adding insult to injury, Maroon was even sat upon and broken – hence the tape and paper clip.

And it goes on from there, in a cacophony of crayon calamity, written on a series of post cards mailed to young Duncan, the owner of the crayon cavilers in “The Day the Crayons Quit.”

Woe-be-tide the unsympathetic soul who is not in sync with Turquoise, (another very popular color this summer), whose head is stuck in a less than sweet-smelling sock, and unceremoniously tossed in a dryer. Crayon crisis upon crisis is the order of the day. The crayons feel much wronged and it is up to readers to listen and perhaps, help Duncan find a remedy.

It’s a hoot and a half for kids that may never treat crayons in a cavalier way again. They have lives and feelings as their users do and they are not mere implements at the end of someone’s finger tips to fill inside the lines of a picture or create color at their owner’s whim.

It’s funny, but the more that I think about it, it’s not too much of a stretch from kindness to an inanimate object to kindness to an animate one.

 

Lesson 1 Crayons have feelings that are to be respected, and not to be taken for granted.

 

Lesson 2 So do people.

Good learning arc here!

Young readers and adults will sympathize, and even chuckle, at this host of harried happenings that befall a crayon left behind at a resort. Neon Red is here ignominiously cast aside after being used to color Dad a lobster red after contacting a sunburn.

Orange and Yellow are “melting, melting” akin to that Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz”, but it’s not water that melts them, but a prolonged dose of being left out in the sun.

Burnt Umber! Ah, the very name conjures memories from my own childhood of coloring. And I found myself as worked up as the crayon as he details his being scarfed as a snack – and then upchucked. Kids love the yucky in case you’ve forgotten.

Will this litany of low treatment end with no resolve? Will appreciation of crayons reign again? Might they again be resigned to a mere crayon box? Or is something grander in the works?

For any Baby Boomer parent or grandparent that recalls whiling away an afternoon building a fort from a conglomeration of cardboard shoe boxes, the conclusion of mending hurts by  constructing crayon comfort in condo fashion is very satisfying.

Side deck and rooftop viewing station are included.

This sequel to “The Day the Crayons Quit” makes nice with put upon crayons, and readers of all ages will love it!

 

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 Even if your kids love to read their favorite books over and over, it's almost fall and time to discover some wonderful new titles. Publishers Weekly's choices for most anticipated children's and young adult (YA) books for fall highlight many good reads you and your kids are certain to enjoy.Their picks include new books from the beloved children's authors Dave Kinney, Audrey and Don Wood, Philip and Erin Stead, and Katherine Applegate, to name a few.

I'm looking forward to these new books that they've highlighted:



 Here's What PW Says:

The Full Moon at the Napping House by Audrey Wood and Don Wood (HMH, Sept.) - More than 30 years after the publication of bedtime favorite The Napping House, this husband-and-wife team takes readers back to a dwelling, where a certain granny, boy, dog, and cat are having trouble falling asleep under the light of an enormous moon.

Lenny and Lucy by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook/Porter, Oct.) - The Steads made a name for themselves with the Caldecott Medal–winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee and have been accumulating accolades ever since. Their latest tells of a boy who creates a pair of protector-companions as he adjusts to his new home.

Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett, illus. by Christian Robinson (Chronicle, Aug.) - Who says ghosts don’t have feelings? Not Barnett and Robinson, whose “ghost story” is alternately funny, sad, and sweet as a lonesome spirit named Leo tries to make a connection that doesn’t leave the other party fleeing in terror.

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (Feiwel and Friends, Sept.) - Applegate is back with her first middle-grade novel since The One and Only Ivan, which won the 2013 Newbery Medal. In this equally sensitive story, fifth-grader Jackson worries that the reappearance of his childhood imaginary friend portends the return of problems for his family, too.

Visit PW for more listings.  Happy reading!

What are your picks for the most exciting children's books coming this fall? Please share your choices below.

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This month, our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the uber entertaining Press Here, by Herve Tullet.

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Following on from the phenomenally brilliant The Day The Crayons Quit comes the sequel. The crayons are back…and they are still not happy. This time around Duncan has to deal with the lost and forgotten crayons. The broken, chewed and melted crayons. And they are all, quite rightly, even more upset! http://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/Day-the-Crayons-Came-Home/Drew-Daywalt/book_9780008124434.htm FREE Shipping. Save […]

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Broken! Lost in the couch! Stuck to a sock! Eaten by a dog! It's one tale of woe after another for Duncan's poor crayons, told through a series of colorful postcards, in this hilarious, inventive story of artful adventure with a sweet surprise at the end. Books mentioned in this post The Day the Crayons [...]

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Following on from the phenomenally brilliant The Day The Crayons Quit comes the sequel. The crayons are back…and they are still not happy. This time around Duncan has to deal with the lost and forgotten crayons. The broken, chewed and melted crayons. And they are all, quite rightly, even more upset! These are the crayons who […]

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The countdown is on for the release of The Day the Crayons Came Home (on sale August 18th 2015), the sequel to the New York Times best selling kids book The Day the Crayons Quit, written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

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This month, our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the entertaining If You Happen to have a Dinosaur, written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Colin Jack.

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For many kids, August is back-to-school month. The stories in this month's hot new release kids books will make back-to-school (and anytime) reading a breeze.

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This month, our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the gorgeously illustrated Gaston, written by Kelly DiPucchio and pictures by Christian Robinson.

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Exciting news: This month our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is a non-fiction book. Hooray for our smart and engaged readers!

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This month our best selling picture book from our affiliate store remains the same. It's the gorgeously illustrated Sleep Like a Tiger, written by Mary Lougue and pictures by Pamela Zagarenski.

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This month our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the gorgeously illustrated Sleep Like a Tiger, written by Mary Lougue and pictures by Pamela Zagarenski.

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This month our best selling picture book from our affiliate store continues to be the lively board book Peek-a-Zoo!, by Nina Laden.

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This month our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the lively board book Peek-a-Zoo!, by Nina Laden.

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Reader's Digest's What I Like About Me is our best selling picture book from our affiliate store this month. As per usual, we've shared our hand selected titles of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books.

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We think it's so fun that one of our all-time favorite Christmas books is our best selling picture book from our affiliate store this month—we just love Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Stick Man. As per usual, we've shared our hand selected titles of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times.

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