Chrysanthemum

Henkes, K. (1991). Chrysanthemum. Illus. Kevin Henkes. New York, New York: Mulberry Books.

Brief Annotation: Chrysanthemum thought her name was absolutely perfect, until she went to preschool and everyone made fun of her name. She began to think her name was not at all perfect, until the talented music teacher told the entire class she was also named after a flower. She also loved the name Chrysanthemum and would name her daughter after that flower. After that, the class thought Chrysanthemum was the best, most perfect name and so did Chrysanthemum.

Genre: Audio Book

Grade Level: K-2

Readers who will like this: Readers who can relate to school problems and readers who like humorous stories.

Response/Rating (1-4): **** This book was delightfully funny because of the illustrations, language, and the realistic story of a young preschooler who becomes self-conscious about him/herself. Henkes does a wonderful job at portraying a young girl’s first experience at school and how teachers can be the life savers of a situation.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: How would you feel if you came to school and everyone in your class made fun of your name? What would you do?