Creepy Crayon!

Jasper Rabbit returns in this third picture-book adventure from author Aaron Reynolds and illustrator Peter Brown. Flunking math, failing spelling, our leporine hero was in trouble at school, until the day he found a crayon on the street. Purple, pointy and perfect, the crayon looked happy to see him, and soon Jasper was prospering in all of his studies, without having to do any work. But when things began to go too far, and the crayon insisted on interfering with his artwork, Jasper knew he had to get rid of this seemingly helpful object. Would he be able to, though...?

Much like its two predecessors, Creepy Carrots and Creepy Pair of Underwear, Creepy Crayon pairs a hilarious story with beautifully engaging artwork. Jasper continues to show more have bad luck with the creepy objects in his life, and I found myself chuckling more than once at his hapless attempts to rid himself of his crayon foe. I appreciated the implicit messages of the story—when something seems like too much a good thing, it probably is; it's better to do our own work, rather than allow cheating of any kind to take over our lives—and the fact that they are delivered naturally, through the story. Perfect for story-time with slightly older children, perhaps in early elementary school, who understand the idea of schoolwork and assignments, and who appreciate a story that is one part spooky and two parts humor. show less

Jasper is bad at math and spelling, and only good at art. Then he finds a perfect and pointy purple crayon, and suddenly he's getting straight A's in everything! It's great. Until the crayon even tries to interfere with his artwork.

I loved the over-the-top ominousness of the grayscale artwork, in which the only color was the purple used for the crayon-created lines.

This was set up a lot like a horror movie, complete with the main character having a nightmare, waking up, and discovering that the crayon has made it real somehow.

Even as an adult, I thought this was fun and amusingly dramatic.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

When I picked this book up, I didn't realize it was an Aaron Reynolds book. I always get a laugh when I read his content. This title was my first encounter with Jasper and I was not disappointed at all! I must read more! This tale of Jasper and the creepy crayon will having you keeping your eyes trained on crayons everywhere. This story was greatly illustrated as well. It's largely black and white with pops of color. I loved the expressions on the purple crayon too. It's so wonderfully creepy!

During the month of October, this book is fun to share with young learners in the classroom. I love the writing style and vocabulary. Students are engaged throughout the entire read aloud. The pictures also draw students in with the black and white illustrations and "pop" of purple color from the creepy crayon. This story teaches students the important lesson of doing their work, even if it isn't the most fun. It's not fun taking credit for someone else's work - even if it means you get an A+. Earning your grade through your doing your own work is not only the right thing to do, it feels better too!

I was so excited for this one to come out because of how much I love the authors’ previous two books in this style, Creepy Carrots and Creepy Pair or Underwear. Creepy Crayon is yet another classic black and white horror style story full of silly moments with this purple crayon that is taking over all the main character’s assignments and making them…perfect!! How long can he take this?!

Though not as creepy or clever as some of the author's other books, Creepy Crayon has just enough suspense and foreshadowing for young readers to keep guessing. The use of black, grey and white coloring with splashes of purple is also night quite as suspenseful as some of his other books, but still pleasing to look at. I wish it would have been thrown in by the end that Jasper could succeed without the purple crayon. I also was just as annoyed with the crayon by the end of the book as he was. My son loved how the creepy green underwear made an appearance!

If you had a crayon who did your schoolwork way better than you, would it be a blessing or a curse? Jasper Rabbit is back, baby.