A Picture for Harold's Room

By Crockett Johnson

Copyright 1960

 

Harold and his purple crayon.  I have several t-shirts with children’s book covers on them that I wear to work, and this one gets the most comments from adults.  “Oh, I loved that book!  Do you have any here?”  Yes, fortunately Harold still has a place on library shelves.  

 

In this volume, A Picture for Harold’s Room, Harold wants a picture to put on his wall.  He takes out his purple crayon and begins to draw.  What starts out as a small drawing becomes a whole world that pulls Harold in.  He is a giant inside his drawing and wades through the ocean and over mountains.  The airplane he draws just misses hitting him.  He ducked just in time!  He draws train tracks too, and begins to notice that he’s becoming smaller and smaller.  Soon, he is so small that he falls into a mouse hole.  How can he get back home if he is so small?  He sits down on a pebble to think and realizes he can use his purple crayon to draw the door to his room.  Entering his room, he sees that he still doesn’t have a picture on his wall.  So, he takes out his crayon and draws one.

Reading this book again, I have to wonder.  Are we all wandering through a world with obstacles and dangers that we have created ourselves?  If so, take a lesson from Harold.  Take your magical purple crayon back out and create a way out of those obstacles.  Don’t blame anyone else.  Instead, focus on creating your own solution.