‘Crayons – Color My World’ by Sharon Straka Hendricks is the second of her books that I’ve read. She is quite adept at writing in a way that makes sense for both children and parents alike. What I mean is that children can find meaning in their own way, while parents can explain underlying metaphors as they feel important. The book is colorful and imaginative, and it provides a window into feelings of uncertainty and methods of observation that children desperately need in order to make sense of the world around them and know how to deal with it accordingly. The crayon exercise that main character Jenny’s mother did with her was enlightening and resourceful, and as a parent myself, I truly appreciated the simplicity of it and how it truly gets the moral of the story across well. Children are so accepting and loving by nature, and we should nurture that. Tolerance and acceptance are two different things, and Sharon Straka Hendricks does a wonderful job in her writing of making that distinction very clear. Jenny’s mother does not teach tolerance of other races or people; she teaches acceptance through her crayon activity, and that is to be applauded.

My two-year-old son was fascinated by the pictures, swiping the Kindle pages back and forth and pointing to items as I mentioned them, including the flowers and various bright colors used throughout the story. One other item that bears mentioning is how Jenny’s forehead wrinkled in thought as she chose her colors to draw her picture. I thought this was a subtle, yet important mention, as children often put more time and effort into considering, rather than acting impulsively all the time.

Even though this was not a necessity, and therefore didn’t take away from enjoyment of the book, one item that I would have loved to see on the pages was a picture of Jenny playing along with the lady she asked her mother about who prompted Jenny’s questions about skin color. Since this was the main motivation of Jenny’s question-asking, I thought it would have been a neat picture to include, maybe even in a thought bubble above Jenny’s head while she asked, of Jenny coming into contact with the woman whose skin color was different. Again, this is not a requirement, as children can be asked to make predictions or suggestions as to what other skin colors there are, which can be a great lead-in to further discussion.

The lessons that Sharon Straka Hendricks teaches in books like ‘Crayons – Color My World’ are eye-opening. I very much recommend her books.

You can find ‘Crayons – Color My World’ by Sharon Straka Hendricks here: http://amzn.to/1MAZVZZ