Harold & Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

This is one of those books where not only do the children in my life enjoy this book, but I do as well. For a kid's book, it's pretty existential. A boy goes through this world where nothing exists and with his purple crayon, creates his world. What makes it more than just a kids book, what gives it the philosophical premise is that even though harold starts the story with this crayon, and has the power to draw anything, become anything, because all he need do is draw whatever he wants to be or where ever he wants to go, even though he has this power, he is unsatisfied and goes on a journey. He uses his crayon to create the world as he goes through it and ultimately finds some contentment, a resting place if you will :P, but the fact that he can create is irrelevant, its a means to an end. The implied 'end' gives us something to think about, and though the children who are meant to be reading this book will not go into such depth with the symbolism or the philosophy, they will pick up on some of the questions the author asks, like what is harold looking for? Why did he need to do all that stuff if he was just going to end up back at home? (Though actually he didn't start at home). Even if the kids don't burst their brains thinking about this, even if they don't come to any logical conclusion, even if they don't ask any questions to begin with, I think exposing our kids to this kind of story is important. Aside from being very amusing, it provides intellectual stimulation for those who look for it and for those who don't, well one day they may look back on this story as an example of some conclusion or another they have drawn. Even if they never understand the story philosophically, the fact that they are exposed to it will register somewhere in their heads and what they know of it will teach them something about life (as does everything, which always gets me critical of the constant stream of nothing we shove down our kids throats, like the bastardisations of stories presented by Disney and the like... and lets not even talk about pop culture).
 
Anyways, the kids I read this to love it. Its a great story, I recommend.