Book 62: The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon, Four Magical Stories, by Crockett Johnson, first story published in 1955, collection reprint 1987, HarperCollins Publishers.
A while ago I reviewed "Not A Box" (Book 29) and commented on how it reminded me of "Harold and the Purple Crayon". I liked "Not A Box" because the genderless rabbit could be male or female and therefore could appeal to a boy or a girl. I love "Harold", though, because he reminds me of my fair-haired, toddling son.
Not only that, "Harold" is about a child's imagination, which I think is an excellent subject for a children's book, especially a clever child's imagination.
The illustrations are simple; the colors are few, although purple does play a prominent role; and the result is perfection in illustration.
As an addendum to this posting, I have to say that not only does my son rather look like Harold, but for the past month or so, he has been coloring on the walls with anything he can find, including a purple crayon. I set up one of those AquaDoodle sheets on the wall to try to limit him coloring with drawing instruments that leave marks that are very difficult to remove from the wall. It helps, but not entirely. Obviously, Crockett Johnson was a genius or he had a two-year-old.
*For other reviews, please see Books I Buy and Why
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