When GreatPilgrim announced her Magic Carpet write-off, I knew it would be a fun one. The idea was to write about a book, CD, toy (etc.) that helps children imagine. Since my son has a great imagination, I knew it wouldn't be hard. My son can find ghosts in the clouds on his walls, and sweeps the floor with his toy golf clubs. Imagination is his middle name!

Of course, one of the great reasons my son has such a good imagination is because I have always read to him. He has a great appreciation for books (yes, even at age 2 1/2!), and always enjoys a good story. And, the protagonist in one of our favorite books reminds me a little bit of my son.

His name is Harold, perhaps you are familiar with him? He is a little boy with a great big imagination. And, he is never without his purple crayon. Harold is the brain child of Crockett Johnson, who wrote all about Harold in the 1950's. Although this is almost a lifetime ago, his stories still continue to delight children all over the world!

I was lucky enough to find a discounted version of The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon before my son was born. I was so excited that I would be able to share Harold with him. Not only did the book contain the original Harold and the Purple Crayon, but three other magical Harold stories as well. Let me tell you why Harold is so special to my son and I!

The first story is Harold and the Purple Crayon written by Johnson in 1955. This is the story that first introduced Harold to the world. Harold is a little boy with a big purple crayon. He starts out deciding to go for a walk. He needed a moon to walk, so he draws one with his purple crayon.

Since he was walking, he decided to draw a sidewalk to walk on. Everywhere that Harold went, he drew more path with the purple crayon. And the moon followed.

Harold is very good at problem solving, especially for such a little boy. After taking a short cut (that he has drawn), he comes to where he thinks a forest should be. So he draws one (small, so as not to get lost). Luckily for him, the tree turns out to be an apple tree, with yummy looking apples. They weren't ready to eat though, as they are purple, not red.

So, he draws a scary dragon to guard the tree. The dragon is so scary though, that he scares Harold too! And so, the adventure continues. Over the ocean (drawn by Harold), along a beach, up a mountain (and down the other side, which hadn't been drawn...), through a big city full of windows, and finally back home to bed-right back with the moon!

The next story is Harold's Fairy Tale. Harold found himself in an enchanted garden. Unfortunately, there was nothing growing in the garden. Harold thought this was bad, so he was going to tell the king about it. He drew a castle where the king might be, and found a way to get in. The king looked sad, so Harold decided to find out if it was an invisible witch causing the garden to be barren. It was! So, Harold drew mosquitoes to chase her away.

Again, more adventure ensues as Harold finally finds the flowers, then gets a wish from a fairy, and takes a ride on a magic carpet (hey, how's that for fitting in with the theme?), and finally ends up at home where his mommy reads him a story.

Next, we have Harold's Trip to the Sky. The story starts out with Harold again drawing a moon (so that it wouldn't be so dark). He realizes that he's in a desert, so he draws some water to drink. There was nothing else to do though, until he remembered that the government shoots off rockets in the desert.

So, he draws a rocket, and sets off into space. He was planning on going to the moon, but overshoots it by a mile. He ends up on Mars, where he runs into a Martian. The Martian is pretty scary, so Harold disables his spaceship, and leaves Mars via the stars. He rode a shooting star back to Earth, but couldn't find the moon. But, the sun soon came up, just in time for an oatmeal breakfast!

The final Harold story is Harold's Circus. By the moonlight, Harold decided to walk on a tightrope. He fell off though, but landed safely on the trunk of an elephant, which he fed a peanut.

In the quick tale, we see Harold swing on the rings, act like a clown, ride the ponies, and even stick his head in a lion's mouth. He did it all, of course, to make the people happy.

And that's what Harold and his purple crayon do, make people happy. For almost 50 years, Harold has been stretching the imaginations of kids of all ages. The simple pictures and quaint stories are sure to keep kids smiling for 50 more!

Each page is almost all white, except for Harold, his crayon, and whatever simple picture the crayon has drawn. Harold's crayon allows him to go anywhere. From the wide open sea to Mars, Harold sees it all with his purple crayon.

Harold is a great role model for children. He shows us that with just a little bit of imagination, we really can go anywhere! The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon makes excellent bedtime reading. It helps foster discussion between parent and child. The lack of much detail in the simple drawings allows your child to fill in the blanks.

The stories are also easy to continue, even after the book is finished. Give your child a crayon of their own, and see what kind of adventures they can go on. Let their imaginations run wild, just like Harold's did.

Children love to take the simplest things (think the box that the expensive toy came in...) and turn it into something great. I think that's why this book works so well. It is about a little child probably no different from your own.

The cover of the book states it is for ages 5-9, but I really feel you can introduce your child to Harold much sooner than that. Any child with an imagination can appreciate Harold and his purple crayon. Plus, with four stories to choose from, you can't go wrong!

Help foster your child's imagination. Pick up a copy of Crockett Johnson's The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon today!

As previously mentioned, this review is part of the Magic Carpet write-off. Please stretch your imagination by checking out the other brilliant authors. Thanks to GreatPilgrim for a great topic!

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Recommended: Yes