Harold and the Purple Crayon

One of our favourite children's books is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (it's part of a whole series of books, which we haven't read, and it's been turned into a DVD series, which we love).

In this book the intrepid Harold, dressed in a sleepsuit and armed only with a purple crayon, draws his own imaginary world across the blank white pages of the book in dark purple lines. As he draws objects they come to life and he interacts with them, accompanied by the moon as it follows him across the pages of the book.

He draws an apple tree and a scary dragon to guard it, and some pie and a friendly moose and porcupine to share it. He accidentally draws an ocean, falls in and draws a boat to rescue himself. He draws and falls from a mountain and draws a hot-aid balloon to escape in.

Tired out, he longs for his own room and draws houses and windows until he realises that he knows where his own window is: around the moon. He draws a window around the moon, draws his bed, draws up the covers, and falls asleep.

It's a wondrous and simple story which I love because of the way it explores a child's imagination as expressed through their drawing. Thomas (7) said to me today,

I would draw anything I wanted if I had a purple crayon. I would draw lollies and stuff. It would be very handy and it would also make life a lot funner if I had a magic purple crayon.

I'd have to agree.