Shinnosuke Nohara might look like an innocent little kid, but anyone whose dealt with kids know they're anything but innocent. Relentlessly sassing the adults around him, pulling perverted pranks, and driving people to tears with embarrassment, Crayon Shinchan's the "kindergartner from hell," a five-year-old boy whose bodily functions, offensive comments, and outrageous behavior consistently annoy everyone around him. A national phenomenon in Japan, this shocking and hilarious comic celebrates the terrible power of destruction and indecency wielded by toddlers everywhere!

Initially serialized in Weekly Manga Action until transferring to 4-koma manga magazine, Manga Town, in 2000.

The author Yoshito Usui was reported missing after leaving for a hiking trip on September 11, 2009, and later his body was found by a climber at Mt. Arafune on September 19. Publication of Crayon Shin-chan was expected to end in November of 2009, but was extended to the March 2010 issue, due to discovered new manuscripts.

Several different publishers have released Crayon Shin-chan in English over the years. It was first introduced to an English-speaking readership in the educational publication Mangajin, wherein it ran occasionally from February 1993 to September 1997, for a total of 9 issues. Later, it was published in book format, first by ComicsOne who released the first volume on October 1, 2002. This version included many changes from the original, such as name changes, censorship, and pop-culture references, as well as flipping the orientation to a left-to-right format. DC Comics' manga division CMX published 11 volumes in its uncensored and un-flipped format from February 1, 2008 to May 4, 2010, although many name changes and cultural references remained altered. One Peace Books released four volumes in a 3-in-1 omnibus format from October 5, 2012 to November 15, 2013. Only the first 12 volumes of Crayon Shin-chan have been released in English.