Red: A Crayon's Story Hardcover – Picture Book, February 3, 2015

Best best best story for anyone loving anyone who doesn’t fit inside society’s box. LGBTQ+ , disabilities, or just a quirky friend. A great way to help see the person exactly as they are and support them there.

Don't let the transphobes in the negative comments fool you, this book is for anyone who doesn't quite fit the prescribed mold of what society expects.This book was read at my local library's story time a couple weeks ago. While the librarian was reading it, I felt an almost instant connection to Red, having always been the weird kid growing up that was always told to act and be like everyone else. I knew I wanted a copy for our home library before the story was even finished. Then, at the end of story time, my neurodivergent four year old ran right past all the kids who were eagerly playing with the bubbles the librarians set up at the end of story time, and headed straight towards where this book was sitting on the table. He picked it up and hugged it to his chest, clearly having felt a similar connection to Red or really Blue that I did. We checked it out that day, and he's wanted to read it every day since. And now we are very happy to have our own copy too.So while, yes, this book CAN apply to trans kids, or any kid who is LGBTQ+ (which is wonderful), it can also apply to neurodivergent kids, and weird kids, and anyone who feels like they can't just be themselves because someone is always trying to tell them to be something else.

An insightful approach to helping people (kids and adults) understand difference. The crayon just can't be the crayon others want him to be... despite his best efforts, and their caring attempts to 'fix' him. This sweet story can be used to represent so many different ways individuals don't/can't fit into the expectations of society. Please don't let the nay-sayers scare you away from this delightful book. I read the book from cover to cover several times looking for so-called 'agenda/indoctrination' .... nothing to be found but a creative portrayal of helping people be who they truly are.

From the author"I began writing Red: A Crayon’s Story, thinking about funny events that might result when a crayon’s label does not match the crayon’s color. But as I collected crayon puns — He’s not sharp enough; He’s not bright enough; He needs to press harder — I began to hear voices from my past. I knew that, at some level, this was my story.I am dyslexic. As a child, I didn’t think of myself as mislabeled; I thought I wasn’t very bright. (In fact, I wasn’t very bright. But I was like everyone else: bright about some things and not bright about other things.) Red, a blue crayon with a red label, judged himself only by how well he could draw red. He accepted the label he was given and suffered profoundly. He tried in vain to draw himself as a red crayon, he was humiliated in front of his classmates, and he finally stormed off in a fit of frustration.Both Red and I were blessed with a supportive community. Everyone tried their best to help. But almost no one could see beyond the label, and their actions only made things worse. I believe that most of the damage we do to each other is the result of ignorance rather than cruelty.This notion was tested recently when I read an article about a high school teacher in Tennessee who was unhappy with a question one of his students asked. He responded by writing the word stupid on the student’s forehead — in front of the class, with a permanent marker, backwards so it could be read in a mirror. Thankfully, that sort of literal labeling is rare these days, but more subtle forms of labeling persist.I hope Red will be among the many resources that help young children learn about colors. I hope readers of all ages enjoy the antics of Red’s well-meaning friends and family, who simply cannot see beyond his official label. I hope the book will provoke classroom discussions about issues like judging people based on outside appearances, how all of us have both strengths and weaknesses, and the importance of being true to oneself. And I hope Red will inspire reflection about the subtle ways children become mislabeled, judging children based on their successes rather than their failures, and the unmitigated joy of finding one’s place in the world.