Color Me Orange

About the Book

Owen Orange discovers that he’s disliked by the owner of his crayon box, so he is never selected to help make beautiful pictures. Because he is relegated to life lived only in his crayon box house, he is unable to join in on the fun coloring activities going on in the classroom. Even though his color friends describe the classroom, the lovely pictures, the teacher, and the children for him, it’s just not the same as seeing them for himself. One day, though, he meets Madeline, and he discovers that he is just as special as all the other crayons in his box.

About the Author

Nancy McLoughlin has a master’s degree in education and has spent many years teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms. One of the greatest challenges she has encountered is finding an effective means for teaching children about their great value and worth. Often other students have put them down, teased them, or refused to befriend them, and they grow up not knowing how important they are as human beings. Nancy discovered that storytelling is a great way to get a point across, and she decided to write about Owen Orange in Color Me Orange. The story is based on her own dislike of the color orange as a child, and her refusal to use that color mirrors the behavior of the crayon box owner in her story. Fortunately, Owen’s story turns out much better than that of the real orange crayons in her childhood crayon boxes.

She currently resides in Evans, Georgia, where she provides daycare for five of her grandchildren. Color Me Orange is one of their favorite books because they feel so special after they read it.