August 2 is Coloring Book Day.

Coloring books and crayons have long been an entertainment and creative outlet for children, but they have become an escape for adults too, a welcome break from the stresses of daily life. But whether they are just a fond memory from your childhood, or a current hobby, they are likely to bring a smile to your face. 

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Marchette Chute (1909-1994), American children’s writer and biographer of English literary figures, including William Shakespeare, Ben Johnson and Geoffrey Chaucer. She wrote both historical fiction and poetry for children and young adults, including Shakespeare of London, Geoffrey Chaucer of England, Stories from Shakespeare, The First Liberty: A History of the Right to Vote in America, 1619-1850, and Rhymes About Us, and Rhymes about Ourselves.

Gene Fehler (1940 – 2013) American poet, short story and non-fiction writer, and teacher, who taught English and creative writing for 28 years, and as a writer-in residence. Many of his poems are about baseball

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To read Marchette Chute’s poem Crayons, and Gene Fehler’s poem Coloring Outside the Lines, click

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Crayons

by Marchette Chute

I’ve colored a picture with crayons
I’m not very pleased with the sun
I’d like it much stronger and brighter
And more like the actual one.
I’ve tried with the crayon that’s yellow,
I’ve tried with the crayon that’s red.
But none of it looks like the sunlight
I carry around in my head.

“Crayons” from Around and About, © 1961 by Marchette Chute –  E.P. Dutton

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Coloring Outside the Lines

by Gene Fehler

got me kept after school
in first grade
especially when Mrs. Dobbish
found I was
doing it on purpose, running
the orange
crayon all the way across
my page
and onto my desk, where
I drew a
flat nose, big eyes, smiling
mouth on a
bright round sun that Mrs.
Dobbish, in spite
of the smile, thought looked
like her

“Coloring Outside the Lines” from Breaking into a Smile © 1999 by Gene Fehler – Fehler Collection

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