A Box of Crayons

The song, A Box of Crayons, is about expanding a child's imagination. I wrote and sang this song to the children I babysat at 13 years old. Over the year's I have added additional verses and a chorus. My song has entertained hundreds of children in schools, libraries, and birthday parties, and encouraged them to use their imagination and "paint what they imagined" in the air. Given scarves as props, they would whoosh the scarves and "paint" with the colors they held in their hands. Afterwards, I would ask them to "hang it up" in the air and "show" everyone what they had painted, delighting in their detailed descriptions. Recently I found that the song helps soothe my mother, an Alzheimer's patient in a loving care facility near my home. Mom attentively read each page and her focus was longer than any other time I had seen before. I am now proud to present the printed version of my song "A Box of Crayons" with charming illustrations done with love and care by Vicky Yuh. My delightfully artistic music student, Samantha Geist, also generously took her time and care to color in a number of the illustrations in order to make the book come alive. I believe this is a way to present coloring that is apropos to a child's range of skills and expression rather than having been interpreted by an adult artist. I hope the combination of singing to the song and coloring in and around the illustrations will be a lovely way for children and their parents or caregivers to wind down at bedtime or any other quiet time they are together. Coloring has been found to be an effective form of reducing anxiety, so coloring and singing together ideally will comfort those who respond to either or both.