Drew Daywalt Books in Order
Explore Drew Daywalt books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, reading order, and simple tips on where to start with his funniest stories.
Last updated: July 1, 2026
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Publication Order
35 books
The Day the Crayons Quit
by Drew Daywalt
2013
Duncan opens his crayon box and finds a stack of complaint letters instead of colors. Each crayon wants something different, so he has to come up with one creative drawing that keeps the whole box happy.
The Day the Crayons Came Home
by Drew Daywalt
2015
Duncan starts getting postcards from lost, broken, and forgotten crayons scattered in strange places. They all want rescue, sympathy, and a proper trip home to the crayon box.
The Crayons' Book of Colors
by Drew Daywalt
2016
It is Duncan's birthday, and every crayon wants to help make the card. Their squabbles and favorite subjects turn a simple concept book into a funny lesson about colors.
The Crayons' Book of Numbers
by Drew Daywalt
2016
Duncan's crayons are missing again, and young readers count them as the search grows. The familiar cast turns a first numbers book into a small joke-filled mystery.
BB-8 On The Run
by Drew Daywalt
2017
Separated from Poe on Jakku, BB-8 must keep a vital map safe and keep rolling. Along the way he helps strangers, dodges danger, and proves small heroes can carry big missions.
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors
by Drew Daywalt
2017
Rock, Paper, and Scissors set out as mighty warriors looking for worthy opponents. Daywalt turns a familiar playground game into an epic, ridiculously serious origin story.
Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy
by Drew Daywalt
2018
Roderick hates bedtime until a stuffed animal named Sleepy arrives. The twist is that Sleepy is even more demanding than Roderick, making for a sharp, funny bedtime showdown.
The Epic Adventures of Huggie & Stick
by Drew Daywalt
2018
A grumpy stuffed bunny and a cheerful stick tumble out of a backpack and set off on a globe-spanning trip home. Their opposite personalities power a fast, funny friendship adventure.
Love from the Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2019
The crayons explain love in their own bright, slightly bossy way. This slim gift book pairs color jokes with sweet observations about warmth, friendship, and caring.
My Tooth Is LOST!
by Drew Daywalt
2019
Monkey loses a tooth and cannot see the upside everyone keeps promising. Cake tries to help, and the search becomes a sweet, silly early-reader adventure.
The Crayons' Christmas
by Drew Daywalt
2019
Duncan and the crayons celebrate Christmas through letters, games, ornaments, and a pop-up tree. It is a playful holiday book that leans into giving, decorating, and the usual crayon drama.
This Is MY Fort!
by Drew Daywalt
2019
Cake builds a fort, Monkey feels shut out, and the friendship gets wobbly. It is a simple, funny story about jealousy, space, and learning that play is better together.
Toy Story 4
by Drew Daywalt
2019
Bonnie's class gets a Craft Buddy Day, and Forky suddenly is not the only handmade toy around. This playful tie-in uses Forky's anxious charm to tell a small story about making friends.
What Is Inside THIS Box?
by Drew Daywalt
2019
Monkey insists there is a cat inside the box when it is closed, while Cake has questions. Their argument turns into a goofy early-reader mystery about imagination and logic.
The Crayons' Book of Feelings
by Drew Daywalt
2021
The crayons prove they do more than color. Through simple examples of happy, sad, and everything between, they help young readers name big feelings with humor.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid
by Drew Daywalt
2021
Clyde wishes on a star before bed, then meets a star with a secret wish of her own. Their nighttime chat becomes a tender, funny story about loneliness and friendship.
Green Is for Christmas
by Drew Daywalt
2022
Green insists Christmas belongs to him, but the other crayons disagree fast. The result is a funny reminder that holiday magic takes more than one color.
The Crayons Trick or Treat
by Drew Daywalt
2022
The crayons are ready for Halloween, except they do not know what to say at the door. Purple Crayon steps in with the right magic words, and chaos follows.
Happy Easter from the Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2023
The crayons decorate one giant Easter egg and then have to decide where to hide it. It is a small holiday story full of shape jokes, teamwork, and Blue Crayon's big ideas.
The Crayons Go Back to School
by Drew Daywalt
2023
The crayons gear up for school, and each one has a favorite subject. Between new friends and art class excitement, back-to-school nerves stay light, colorful, and funny.
Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2024
Green wants a break, but St. Patrick's Day keeps pulling him back to work. The other crayons try to help, with predictably colorful results.
The Crayons Give Thanks
by Drew Daywalt
2024
The crayons take turns noticing what they are grateful for, from everyday objects to family. It is a warm, compact Thanksgiving read that works any time gratitude is the point.
The Crayons Love Our Planet
by Drew Daywalt
2024
The crayons celebrate Earth by pointing out what each color brings to the world, from oceans to soil to wheat. It is a quick, cheerful reminder that every part matters.
The Wrong Book
by Drew Daywalt
2024
A very confident narrator keeps getting everything hilariously wrong, and the other characters are not having it. Kids get to spot the mistakes, shout corrections, and enjoy the escalating nonsense.
They Call Me No Sam!
by Drew Daywalt
2024
Sam the pug thinks he is a human-level security expert, even if everyone else sees a confused dog. In his diary, he tries to protect Justin's family from villains, vacuums, and his own bad judgment.
Goodnight, Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2025
The crayons are ready for bed, sort of. Each one needs its own bedtime comfort, turning lights-out into a cozy, comic routine.
Happy Mother's Day from the Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2025
The crayons celebrate moms and mother figures in all kinds of families. Each small tribute mixes the series' color jokes with a warm, inclusive holiday message.
Little Freddie Two Pants
by Drew Daywalt
2025
Freddie is a dog with a huge question, how many pairs of pants should he wear, and where do they even go? The answer matters less than the gleeful silliness.
No Sam! and the Meow of Deception
by Drew Daywalt
2025
Sam's family cat can talk now, and that is only the start of the trouble. Sam suspects vampires, spies, and neighborhood villains while trying to protect Justin and keep Meow safe.
The Day the Crayons Made Friends
by Drew Daywalt
2025
Duncan's crayons leave the box and start meeting the objects around his room. Their letters home turn toys and household clutter into a fresh round of funny new friendships.
Bath Time for the Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2026
The crayons make a whole event out of getting clean, with very different bath habits and opinions. It turns an everyday routine into splashy, very dry humor.
Forty the Fortune Teller
by Drew Daywalt
2026
Left half-finished on the playground, a paper fortune teller refuses to stay helpless. With help from new friends, Forty sets out to fix a broken slide before someone gets hurt.
Good Morning, Crayons
by Drew Daywalt
2026
Some crayons leap out of bed and others drag their feet, but school is waiting. This short story brings morning routines to life with the usual color-coded personality clashes.
No Sam! and the City of Scoundrels
by Drew Daywalt
2026
Sam heads to New York City with the Petersons and immediately spots danger everywhere. Between Meow, the cat show, and Sam's heroic misunderstandings, the trip becomes his biggest mission yet.
The Crayons' Book of Manners
by Drew Daywalt
2026
The crayons try to learn politeness, with mixed results. Please, thank you, table manners, and even burps become chances for quick jokes and gentle lessons.
Where should I start?
If you want the main Crayons story: The Day the Crayons Quit → The Day the Crayons Came Home → The Day the Crayons Made Friends
If you want books for younger readers: The Crayons' Book of Colors → The Crayons' Book of Numbers → The Crayons' Book of Feelings
If you want easy-reader friendship stories: What Is Inside THIS Box? → This Is MY Fort! → My Tooth Is LOST!
If you want big, silly read-alouds: The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors → The Wrong Book → Little Freddie Two Pants
If you want illustrated chapter-book chaos: They Call Me No Sam! → No Sam! and the Meow of Deception
Author bio
Drew Daywalt grew up in Ohio, in a house he has described as haunted. That detail fits him surprisingly well. Even as a kid, he was drawn to comedy, fantasy, and spooky stories, which helps explain why his books can feel both a little mischievous and very tuned in to how children see the world.
He has said that one of his big early turning points came when he was seven and saw the first Star Wars in theaters. Watching the end credits, he noticed the screenplay credit and realized that movies and stories did not just appear, somebody wrote them. That was the moment he decided he wanted to tell stories too.
Daywalt studied creative writing at Emerson College in Boston and graduated in 1992. While he was there, writer Jack Gantos encouraged him toward children's books, but Daywalt headed to Los Angeles after college, determined to work in film and television. He built a long screenwriting career there, writing for animated projects tied to Timon & Pumbaa, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody Woodpecker, and he also worked on The Wacky World of Tex Avery.
Hollywood taught him a lot about pace, dialogue, and character voice.
That voice-first approach is a big part of why his books work so well out loud. In 2003, while sitting at his desk in Los Angeles and trying to think of a picture book idea, he noticed an old box of crayons nearby. He began imagining what each color would say if it could complain about how it had been used. That small moment turned into The Day the Crayons Quit, which was published in 2013 and became a huge hit. Its sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home, kept the same funny setup and added postcards from lost, broken, and forgotten crayons.
Then the crayons really took off.
Since then, Daywalt has built a body of work that keeps returning to one of his favorite tricks, giving bold inner lives to things or creatures that usually do not get much say. In The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors, a playground game becomes a mock-epic battle story. In The Wrong Book, the joke is that the narrator cannot stop getting basic facts wrong. In the Monkey & Cake books, a monkey and a slice of cake turn small disagreements into giant philosophical debates. And in They Call Me No Sam!, a pug narrates his life like a loyal, deeply confused action hero.
Readers tend to come to Daywalt for the laughs, but they stay for the personality. His stories are packed with bickering friends, touchy objects, overconfident narrators, and characters who misunderstand almost everything while still meaning well. He is especially good at writing books that adults can enjoy reading aloud without feeling like they are just doing a duty shift at bedtime.
He has also said that he thinks of picture books less as quiet texts on a page and more as something to be spoken and performed. That idea tracks with the books themselves. They are full of dialogue, strong rhythms, and lines that invite a big voice, a pause, or a dramatic look across the room.
These days, Daywalt lives in Southern California with his wife, two children, and a dog. He still works in screenwriting as well as children's books, and he has kept a playful sense of humor about the whole thing. He has even shared that his favorite crayon is Black. After reading a few of his books, that feels exactly right.
Edited by
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