Red: A Crayon’s Story

By Michael Hall

From a very young age, children are taught that they have to act and look a certain way based on their race, gender, and even interests. Michael Hall uses the innocent character of a mislabeled blue crayon to drive this message home.

The young blue crayon is mistakenly dressed in a red label, and time and time again he believes that he should be able to draw in the correct color, just like his friends. His classmates, parents and even grandparents believe that something must be wrong with him and he starts to believe it himself. This innocent children’s story shows children that they are not required to conform to the labels that they may have been assigned at birth–much like the blue crayon. At the same time, the text teaches parents and other authority figures that what they say to children matters. If a child is told time and time again that something is wrong with them or that they are doing something incorrectly, they will start to believe it to be true. On the other hand, if children are praised and complimented, they will believe that they are capable of much more. It only takes on person to make one realize their true purpose and interests in life.