Celebrating the inventor of the Crayola crayon! This gloriously
illustrated picture book biography tells the inspiring story of Edwin
Binney, the inventor of one of the world's most beloved toys. A perfect
fit among favorites like The Day the Crayons Quit and Balloons Over Broadway.purple mountains’ majesty, mauvelous, jungle green, razzmatazz…
What child doesn't love to hold a crayon in their hands? But children
didn't always have such magical boxes of crayons. Before Edwin Binney
set out to change things, children couldn't really even draw in color.
Here’s the true story of an inventor who so loved nature’s vibrant
colors that he found a way to bring the outside world to children – in a
bright green box for only a nickel! With experimentation, and a special
knack for listening, Edwin Binney and his dynamic team at Crayola
created one of the world’s most enduring, best-loved childhood toys –
empowering children to dream in COLOR!
“A colorful addition to the shelves of picture books about inventors and inventions and all things STEAM” SLJ
"What
were the odds that I’d go goofy over the biography of the guy who
invented the Crayola crayon? . . . This
Natascha Biebow lady KNOWS how to pen a really good picture book
biography . . . And the Backmatter, oh the Backmatter! Gorgeous
full-color photographs of the process (which gave me flashbacks to
old Mr. Rogers episodes), a one-page author bio, and the MOST
impressive Bibliography I’ve seen in any picture book this year" – Betsy
Bird, SLJ Fuse # 8
"This entertaining history of how a universally recognizable object came
to be tells of businessman and inventor Edwin Binney's 'knack for
listening and making what people needed.' ...Biebow's first nonfiction
picture book flows with conversational smoothness ... The attractive
full-page--and, accordingly, brightly colorful--illustrations mix
realism and whimsy" -- Booklist"In
this chatty, engaging picture book, Biebow provides the historical
context around the invention of Crayola crayons. The story covers the
media predecessors (breakable, often poisonous
artists’ crayons; clay) that were the basis for the Crayola and the
trial-and-error process Binney undertook to create a safe, colorful
product that children from diverse economic backgrounds could afford.
Such visual cues as boldface type for the names of
colors throughout the story aid readers in recognizing the colors that
Binney developed and that they might encounter in their own crayon
boxes. Biebow moves past the invention to recognize the impact this
product has had on childhood worldwide. Salerno brings
readers close to the story through his illustrations, right onto the
lab table where Binney and his team (both impressively mustachioed men
and women, all white) developed the crayon. What Jon Klassen achieves
emotionally in his characters’ eyes, Salerno manages
with eyebrows here. He uses crayon pencils for the bulk of the work;
children's pictures in a couple of later spreads are done, appropriately
enough, with Crayolas. A well-organized bibliography with both primary
and secondary sources, including interviews
with Binney’s great-granddaughter, is supplemented by text boxes
throughout the book that offer additional informational snippets such as
the composition of Crayola’s pigments." – Kirkus
Shortlisted for the Irma Black Award
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Shortlisted for North Carolina
Children's Book Award
Shortlisted for Charter Oak, CT,
Children's Book Award
Shortlisted for CFSID Horned Toad Tale
Award, Houston, TX
Shortlisted for
the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, MD
Honor Book, Beehive Award for Children's
Informational Books, Utah
