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Apr 16, 2016mmcbeth29 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
SUMMARY: Duncan and his crayons (I suppose these are the only ones who didn't quit in the first book) receive a stack of post cards. Each one is from a different crayon who is living a miserable existence and wants to come home. Each card complains about how horrible life is for the crayon. When the crayons come home, Duncan builds a home where all the crayons will feel welcomed. ILLUSTRATIONS: The illustrations were created in a mixed media of crayons, post cards and cardboard. REVIEW: I gave the first book, The Day the Crayons Quit, 2 stars for the same reasons I am giving this sequel 2 stars. First, the post cards are written crayon. But instead of making them in some sort of readable print for young readers, they are written in a combination of cursive and print. This makes the cards very difficult to read and hard on the eyes. The colors have been improved, but it doesn't matter because in simple words--it's just bad handwriting! Once again, this book is full of complaining and negativity. The crayons, who chose to leave in the first place, complain on each and every page about how bad life is. This makes the book a downer. At no point in the book did I feel excited because the crayons were coming home. At no point did I feel happy for Duncan or the crayons. At no point was I interested in what the crayons had to say because it was all so negative. And yet, there is a picture of a happy crayon on the front cover. This is misleading. No one is smiling throughout the book and only a couple of crayons are smiling on the last two page spread. The illustrations were, again, uninteresting. The post cards did add a nice touch, but many of the pictures were scribbled art. I lost interest in the pictures after the first couple of pages. There are also quite a few mature and inappropriate bits throughout the book. The crayons use the word stupid regularly, puns young readers won't understand, angry tones and one put down after another. There is a picture of the dog licking its privates and poop that came from a bear in the woods. I can go on and on. And the big excitement of this book was the special glow in the dark drawing. I could barely see it in a dark room. The second time around is no better than the first and again, I cannot recommend this book for any age reader. It is poorly written, poorly illustrated and all around poorly executed. There are too many other lovely picture books out there to waste time and money on this kind of low quality.