Story Sack – ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Dewalt & Oliver Jeffers and ‘The Crayon Man’ by Natascha Biebow & Steve Salerno

For a long time I’ve wanted to make a story based on Drew Dewalt ‘s and Oliver Jerrers’s ‘The Day the Crayons Quit,’ but as is often the way I could not find an age appropriate related non-fiction book to compliment the story. It was therefore joy to me, when I heard that SCWBI-BI Regional Director, (who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my time volunteering for SCBWI) Natascha Biebow had written a picture book about the man who invented crayons, as it is the illusive missing piece of the story stack.

So before we start our post, here is a quick note on what a story sack is, and what it includes…

Story Sack Checklist

• A good quality fiction book. (picture book or novel)
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

Fiction Book - ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Dewalt & Oliver Jeffers

The Day the Crayons Quit is a celebration of colour and creativity. It’s a humorous read, as the Crayons all write letters to their owner Duncan complaining about how he uses them; pointing out the notions of preconceptions of how things are; pink for girls, blue for water, and so on. It is done in charming way which is reminiscent of the Little Prince’s drawings in the classic Antonie de Saint-Exupery book. Duncan responds by unleashing his creativity to use his colours in a more liberated way, pleasing everyone, including his teacher. The Day the Crayons Quit is an original, unique and funny read with vibrant illustrations which work perfectly with the text.

Non-Fiction Book ‘The Crayon Man’ by Natascha Biebow & Steve Salerno

‘The Crayon Man’, is much akin to ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ as it is also a celebration of creativity and colour, telling the remarkable true story, of Edwin Binney who invented the Crayola waxed crayons. The book is beautiful, as it explores Edwin’s journey with fun flowing narrative interjected with boxes of facts and beautiful illustrations by Steve Salerno. In addition it has a biography of Edwin Binney and a section explaining the way Crayola Crayons are made today, which makes it a perfect companion book for the story sack – Thanks Natascha and Steve! 

Toys

This is maybe the easiest story sack I’ve ever done as far as soft toys are concerned, as there is a wide range of ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ merchandise available online, I opted for the Crayon box full of Crayon finger puppets, which was relatively inexpensive at £6.99 including postage. Plus I’ve included a man finger puppet which can be used as Edwin too. 

Games

There are ready made games available online, like a fabric crayon matching set from Esty, or a Crayola branded card game (if you can find one cheap enough), but to keep cost down, I chose to make my own. So, I used four small draw string bags that I already had and filled them with four packs of chunky crayons (89p each) , which can be used in multiple ways…


Crayon Colour Snap

Up to four players

Equipment: Four bags full of identical set of crayons.

Rules:

1. On the count of three, all players pull a random crayon from their bag.

2. If any colours match, the first person to shut Snap wins them all, and places them in front of them. Any un-matching coloured crayons go back in the bag they came from.

3. When the bags are empty, the player with the most crayons in front of them wins. In the event of a tie, those players play again, until there is an outright winner. 

Crayon Colour Quick Fire Draw

Up to four players

Equipment:

· Four bags full of identical set of crayons. Colour Dice. Paper. Doodle cards, (or story cube)

Rules:

1. All players have a bag with identical crayons inside (that correspond to the colours on the dice).

2. Turn over a doodle card to see what you need to draw, or if using a story cube, throw the cube.

3. Throw colour dice - to get a colour.

4. Find the colour in your bag, and draw the picture with that colour. First player to shout done, and having drawn the picture correctly in the right colour wins. If using a doodle cards, the player gets the card, and the overall winner is the one with the most cards at the end, if using a story cube, keep tally.

Worksheet or Activity

For a activity, I’ve included a pack of Crayola crayons, for drawing and colouring, a pack of crayon stickers and a ‘the Day the Crayons Quit’ inspired activity Sheet. 

Thank you for visiting!

Creating a Story Sacks on a budget - Oliver Jeffers - 'Lost and Found' Story Sack for under £10.00

Before Christmas we promised you an economy Story Sack feature to illustrate that it is possible to create one on a budget. Knowing that Christmas has come and gone, and that many of us are tightening our purse strings to save for our family summer get always, it seems like the perfect time to share this post to demonstrate that creating Story Sacks, doesn’t have to cost the earth. So armed with one £10.00 note, and with an hour on the parking meter, I headed into town to see if I could create a fun packed and engaging Story Sack for under a tenner.

Before I carry on with the results of my Charity Shop crawl, I will quickly remind you what a Story Sack is; it is a devise to help children engage with stories through play and learning, with the aim to help them develop a love for reading. The format is simple it’s a draw string bag full of fun goodies comprising of…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book.
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children).
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book.
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack.

So back to me, an hour and a tenner, I hit the charity shops, and struck gold in my very first one. Well not gold, but two books, and a soft toy, which is a very credible start to a story sack! My first find was a lovely hardback copy of 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers, about a; boy, a penguin, an umbrella, and a boat load of heart-warming friendship. I paired this with an Usborne non-fiction book about penguins, which like the first, book was in near perfect condition and cost a mere 50p. From the same shop I purchased a BNWT (brand new with tags) Penguin soft toy (with safety marks) for yet another 50p. Meaning that in shop one I had got about half of the contents for the Story Sack for only £1.50.

Felling very pleased with myself, I went to the next shop, and found a BNWT TY Boy plush for (you guessed it) 50p, and a woolly hat for him to ware for 10p, and the all-important ‘sack’, for 50p. This took my total up to £2.60.

Feeling rather pleased with my finds, but knowing that the most challenge part in any story sack creation, the finding of a themed game or activity, was next, I set off for the next charity shop. To my joy, I found a BNWT toy boat for £2.50, which would tie in very well, so I gave myself a metaphorical pat on the back, whilst imagining the plush penguin and boy using it to sail off on an amazing adventure, when I totted up the total which had raised to £5.10, and began to worry that I may not bring the sack in on budget.

With the remaining £4.90 jingling in my pocket I scoured the last charity shops in town and indeed the toyshop (which is one of a well know chain, which frequently has reduced toys) but could find not any toy or activity to complete the sack. Feeling despondent, I browsed in the local indie toyshop, at its beautiful rag dolls, and wooden castles with no expectations at all, when I discovered a wooden penguin puzzle for £4.50. So this lovely addition completed the story sack with 40p to spare.

The last inexpensive addition was to create a worksheet, so a minute on the computer and the use of clip art, I soon had an umbrella that can be photocopied and used to colour in and cut out, ready to take the penguin and boy on lots more adventures together.

With a complete story sack, created for under £10.00, and in under an hour, I am pleased to say that it is possible to create story sacks on a budget. Not only that, but I had a great deal of fun doing it. So I challenge you to do the same, go out with a small budget, and see if you can create a story sack, for your children, or better still with your children and donate it to your school.

For more article and ideas for creating Story Sack press here.