True story: I was having lunch with Oliver Jeffers at a local NYC tavern (The Ear, for those of you familiar with the West Village) that places a jar of crayons atop its white paper tablecloths. Oliver, not surprisingly, was doodling in crayon as we talked. He asked how my search for a new editorial assistant was progressing. I told him about a manuscript I was giving candidates to test their ability to write a reader's report and flap copy; it was titled The Crayon Chronicles. Oliver stopped doodling, eyed me and said, "Really? Can I read it?"And thus was born a tailor-made connection. Oliver, the big kid with the crayons, bringing his unique style of illustration to a laugh-out-loud funny book about crayons. He knew instantly that he wanted to hand-letter the text in crayon and it wasn't long before he had visions of incorporating coloring book pages. It was a book he had pure fun creating and I think that joy shows through. The back cover, for instance, shows a group of protesting crayons carrying signs that read BOOO / DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING / and WE'RE NOT HAPPY -- something that was inspired by Oliver's favorite Irish TV show.This is an incredibly child-friendly book, full of complaining crayons, humorous text and artwork, bright colors, spacious pages, and playful thinking. It's also Oliver's very first book to be originated with Penguin -- an exciting opportunity for us all.