Color Me Impressed by THE CRAYON MAN

If I called for a show of hands (among many ages, adults included) I'm guessing more than half of the population has viewed one of the various versions of How A Crayon Is Made. That estimate extends far beyond the borders of the USA, because crayons are one of the first and most important toys a child can receive. Since the book featured in this post honors the origin story behind CRAYOLA CRAYON's creator, Edwin Binney, I'll link HERE to Crayola's official seven-minute You-Tube version. If you've never seen it, you might want to take a look, before or after reading my notes about this book.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2019

THE CRAYON MAN: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons is written by Natascha Biebow and illustrated by Steven Salerno.
This biography/creation story behind CRAYOLA crayons offers multiple themes, including:

• Edwin Binney following his truest self, from being a boy who recognized and embraced vivid color and on a mission to share that with others throughout his life;
• The power of business collaboration, innovation, and initiative;
• The importance of experimentation and perseverance (STEM);
• Spouses, particularly women, as contributors and supporters, not just tea-servers in an era of gender diminishment;
• Figurative and descriptive, dare I say COLORFUL language;
• and more!

Add to that the crisp and colorful Photo-Doc-How-It-Is-Made spread in the back matter, an accessible bit of archival and research detail about Edward Binney and his family, and one of the most appealing and useful bibliography/reference pages I've seen in any picture book (and I see a lot).
I'm tempted to add a caution that this is NOT a diverse story. Then again, it is NOT fiction. It is HISTORY, and it portrays a very WHITE society in which education, investment, and thus events like these occurred. Note the invisibility of any non-white individuals involved in the upkeep of that society, which was also a characteristic of that time and place.
A significant part of me felt sad as I turned these vivid and appealing pages. All the visible skin was  "FLESH"-toned. (Remember that crayon color, now retired?) The cover illustration allows for the existence of other-than-white in that time period. But the final page, which pulls the text into the present, presents a delightful pair of kids/friends (one white-ish, one brown-ish, and neither very FLESH-ish) using crayons to pour their creatively colorful minds and hearts onto sheet after sheet of paper.
I highly recommend this for any age for the quality text, perfectly-suited illustrations, and outstanding bonus features. It is also an impressive mentor text on many levels, especially for the youngest through adults with a dream of creating nonfiction picture books.

I was tempted to include a photo of the end papers, but I challenge you to get this book in your own hands and check them out. The challenge statement included within those end papers is a life goal for anyone, any age.