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75th out of 2,250 books
—
3,513 voters
Chrysanthemum (Mouse Books)
by
Kevin Henkes
Chrysanthemum thinks her name is absolutely perfect, until her first day of school. "You're named after a flower!" teases Victoria. "Let's smell her, " says Jo. Chrysanthemum wilts. What will it take to make her blossom again?
Paperback
Published
September 20th 1996
by Greenwillow Books
(first published September 16th 1991)
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Aug 31, 2010
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Kevin Henkes Fans / Children Who Are Being Teased
Shelves:
picture-books
Review Temporarily Removed.
I loved the subplot, told only in the pictures, wherein the father consults archaic psychological texts in order to understand his daughter's distress.
6 likes · like · see review
This is just a darling book. Having saddled my eldest with a somewhat unusual name, I used to read this book to him frequently in the hopes that he would absorb the message that an unusual name is something you can be proud of. I can't say for sure whether this story made a difference, but he likes his name and has never let anyone's teasing change his mind.
Chrysanthemum is so much fun to read. I do wish that the epilogue was just a little different. The last page has the mean girl making a mis...more
Chrysanthemum is so much fun to read. I do wish that the epilogue was just a little different. The last page has the mean girl making a mis...more
Chrysanthemum is a wonderful book about learning to find happiness within one's unique identity. Filled with colorful illustrations, this book is a delightful tale about a young girl who loves her unusual name until her peers at school begin to make fun of her. Throughout the story, Chrysanthemum's parents encourage her to embrace her identity and be happy with herself, but Chrysanthemum is miserable until a teacher gives her the highest compliment. Not only does she like Chrysanthemum's name, b...more
1 like · like · see review
Review – Chrysanthemum
I love this book because of how it deals with an important aspect of personal identity – one's name. I think the book does a great job of encapsulating a wide array of emotions that one can feel about their name throughout their lifetime. This, among other reasons, would make this a good book to read during a read-aloud in the beginning of a school year when children are getting to know each other.
The story begins with the parents naming their baby Chrysanthemum after deci...more
I love this book because of how it deals with an important aspect of personal identity – one's name. I think the book does a great job of encapsulating a wide array of emotions that one can feel about their name throughout their lifetime. This, among other reasons, would make this a good book to read during a read-aloud in the beginning of a school year when children are getting to know each other.
The story begins with the parents naming their baby Chrysanthemum after deci...more
This story is about a young mouse named Chrysanthemum. Her parents were overjoyed when she was born and thought she was “absolutely perfect” and decided upon the name Chrysanthemum because they believed it to be perfect as well. As she grew up she also fell in love with her name. She would whisper it to herself in the mirror, write it in orange crayon, and she loved the way it looked on her birthday cakes. However, when she started school and her teacher called roll, everyone laughed at Chrysant...more
This is a story about a young mouse named Chrysanthemum. She thinks her name is absolutely perfect until she starts school. She gets teased about her name by her classmates because her name is long and she is named after a flower. She begins to think that her name is absolutely dreadful. This all changes when the new music teacher comes along and reveals that she has a long name and that she is named after a flower. She also tells the girls who are picking on Chrysanthemum that she thinks that i...more
This is a cute story about a young mouse named Chrysanthemum who has a long, unique name and absolutely loves it! She loves to say her name and loves everything about her name....until she starts school. At school, all of her classmates are named "normal" short names like Tod, Mary, Sue. They all make fun of her and tease her about being named after a flower. Chrysanthemum starts to not like her name anymore and wished she had a simple name like her other classmates. Then after her teacher has a...more
I vividly remember reading this picture storybook as a small girl, so when I saw it on the list I knew I wanted to track it down to re-read it at an older age. Chrysanthemum was such a fun name to say and I never quite understood why she ever need to feel self-conscious about it. The pictures were just as bright and cheery as I remembered and I loved seeing what creative activity she would be doing. I really enjoyed watching Chrysanthemum age through the use of nine cleverly depicted images. I t...more
1 like · like · see review
Chrysanthemum
By Kevin Henkes
Henkes, K. (1997). Chrysanthemum. New York, NY: Mulberry Books.
1. Other
2. Chrysanthemum was born with the most perfect name. It wasn’t until people at school teased her that she noticed that her name wasn’t so perfect anymore. He name was too long to fit onto a name tag, and who gets named after a flower? It wasn’t until the beloved music teacher Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, told the class her long unique name that Chrysanthemum thought her name was perfect again.
3. Th...more
By Kevin Henkes
Henkes, K. (1997). Chrysanthemum. New York, NY: Mulberry Books.
1. Other
2. Chrysanthemum was born with the most perfect name. It wasn’t until people at school teased her that she noticed that her name wasn’t so perfect anymore. He name was too long to fit onto a name tag, and who gets named after a flower? It wasn’t until the beloved music teacher Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, told the class her long unique name that Chrysanthemum thought her name was perfect again.
3. Th...more
Chrysanthemum has always thought her name was absolutely perfect. She loved the way it sounded when her father called her. She loved the way it sounded when she whispered it to herself. She loved the way it looked when she wrote it with her fat orange crayon. “Chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum.” It was absolutely perfect!
Chrysanthemum was very excited to start to school. When the teacher took attendance, everyone giggled at her name! “It’s so long!”, one child said. “It scarcely fits o...more
Chrysanthemum was very excited to start to school. When the teacher took attendance, everyone giggled at her name! “It’s so long!”, one child said. “It scarcely fits o...more
This was a very colorful book with a very colorful character. She was born into a loving home where she was loved and adored. Upon entering school for the first time she was shown just how cruel her peers and the world could be. Her classmates didn’t understand the uniqueness of her name or their own. They began to make fun of her and treated her unkind. This made Chrysanthemum think of herself other than want her parent instilled in her. Each day she went home her parents encouraged her and she...more
Grade/interest level: K-2
Reading level: 1.0 lexile 410L
Genre: Comedy Humor
Main Characters: Chrysanthemum,
Setting: unknown
POV: 3rd pov
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is a story about a young mouse with an extraordinary name. Chrysanthemum loves the sound of her name and thinks it is very special. It isn’t until she begins school and realizes that her name is different that she begins to hate it. She is teased by the girl mice in school about how long her name is and how she is named after a flower...more
Reading level: 1.0 lexile 410L
Genre: Comedy Humor
Main Characters: Chrysanthemum,
Setting: unknown
POV: 3rd pov
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is a story about a young mouse with an extraordinary name. Chrysanthemum loves the sound of her name and thinks it is very special. It isn’t until she begins school and realizes that her name is different that she begins to hate it. She is teased by the girl mice in school about how long her name is and how she is named after a flower...more
Who can' get enough of Kevin Henkes stories??? I know I can't! This story is about a girl who absolutely loves her name. Her mother and father call her beautiful and talks about how wonderful she is everyday. Chyrsanthemum believes that what they are saying is true until she starts school. Her classmates tease her, because her name is thirteen letters long and that she is named after a flower. Her teacher notices that she is being teased, and makes her feel comfortable by saying she is named aft...more
I truly enjoyed reading Chrysanthemum as did all of my kids at the YMCA where I work! It provides a great moral while being entertaining as well.
Chrysanthemum tells the story of a young mouse who is blessed with the most perfect name. Chrysanthemum loves everything about her name down to the way it looks written in ink on an envelope. Chrysanthemum is very excited to start school but is shocked to find the students make fun of her name! The young mouse feels awful about her naming, dreaming...more
Chrysanthemum tells the story of a young mouse who is blessed with the most perfect name. Chrysanthemum loves everything about her name down to the way it looks written in ink on an envelope. Chrysanthemum is very excited to start school but is shocked to find the students make fun of her name! The young mouse feels awful about her naming, dreaming...more
This book is all about acceptance, and if you are different, it sometimes takes someone else to let you know you are special. Chrysanthemum was made fun of because she was named after a flower and that her name was too long, hardly fit on her nametag. Chrysanthemum did everything she could to try to fit in from wearing clothes that had plenty of pockets to put her good luck charms in and her most prized possessions. Mrs. Twinkle, the music teacher, was also named after a flower, Delphinium. She...more
For my read-aloud book, I chose Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, I think it’s a perfect book to be read aloud. I would choose it mostly for lower levels such as first or second. Chrysanthemum is a small mouse whose parents wanted to have the perfect name for their new child. They wanted a name as perfect as their little girl already was. Growing up Chrysanthemum loved her name, loved the way it looked, sounded, and written. This is changed when school started and everyone else in her class whose...more
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is the story of a young mouse on her first day of school. She is extremely proud of her name, Chrysanthemum, until she is teased by her classmates. Each day, her classmates make fun of her long name and every night, her parents console her. When in music class, Chrysanthemum's classmates confront her again, but the music teacher steps in. Her name is as long as Chrysanthemum's and she is also named after a flower. Suddenly, the other students are jealous of her name...more
Forgive me one, forgive me all, I'm about to do what the school librarian, my teachers and my guardians told me never to do. I'm about to break one of the chief cardinal rules of the internet - I'm going to tell you all my real name.
Acacia.
Hello all, my name is Acacia. It's a romanization of a hellenization of what most scholars probably agree upon was an old Egyptian word, but it may go back farther than that. It's also a type of tree with the best, most delicious looking buttery yellow flowers...more
Acacia.
Hello all, my name is Acacia. It's a romanization of a hellenization of what most scholars probably agree upon was an old Egyptian word, but it may go back farther than that. It's also a type of tree with the best, most delicious looking buttery yellow flowers...more
2 likes · like · see review
This is one of my favorite read-alouds.
Often I read it at the beginning of the school year when the kiddos, like Chrysanthemum, are showing up to a new school and trying to navigate adjusting. This year we waited and read the book alongside many others that address issues of teasing and bullying. This particular book makes it easy to talk about the power of tone for impacting how our words are received. (I can say, "Her name is so long" as a kind, non-judgmental statement of fact or as a mean-h...more
Often I read it at the beginning of the school year when the kiddos, like Chrysanthemum, are showing up to a new school and trying to navigate adjusting. This year we waited and read the book alongside many others that address issues of teasing and bullying. This particular book makes it easy to talk about the power of tone for impacting how our words are received. (I can say, "Her name is so long" as a kind, non-judgmental statement of fact or as a mean-h...more
Chrysanthemum has one of those classic kid-lit plots: Kid is unpopular. Person with influence likes her. Everybody else is jealous and KID learns... some valuable lesson.
I'm not always impressed with these stories. I *was* the unpopular kid growing up. Too often, the lesson seems to be "You should be nice to the unpopular kid because they're really a good person" (but if they're not useful to you, you can pick on them?) or "The bullies you suck up to today will reject you tomorrow, so you shoul...more
I'm not always impressed with these stories. I *was* the unpopular kid growing up. Too often, the lesson seems to be "You should be nice to the unpopular kid because they're really a good person" (but if they're not useful to you, you can pick on them?) or "The bullies you suck up to today will reject you tomorrow, so you shoul...more
I'm not in the habit of rating the dozens and dozens of children's books I read to my kids, but I had to review this one. This is a terrible book and I can't figure out why the heck everyone thinks it's so wonderful! Basically, it's about a girl named Chrysanthemum who doesn't like her name, because she gets teased and bullied for it (her friends have 'normal' names). Then, one of her teachers tells Chrysanthemum how much she loves her name and that she wants to name her baby (the teacher is pre...more
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is a story centered on the school experiences of a young mouse with an unusual name who is teased about it at school. Chrysanthemum is verbally bullied until the popular music teacher reveals her unusual name and what she intends to name her new baby.
The text quite nicely depicts Chrysanthemum's nurturing parents and her unhappiness at the way Chrysanthemum's classmates taunt her about her unusual name. The text lets readers know that every child deserves to be trea...more
The text quite nicely depicts Chrysanthemum's nurturing parents and her unhappiness at the way Chrysanthemum's classmates taunt her about her unusual name. The text lets readers know that every child deserves to be trea...more
Kevin Henkes really pulls at the reader's heart strings with Chrysanthemum. We meet Chrysanthemum, a spunky young mouse who is proud of her unique name, until she goes to school and her name is made fun of. She then looses all confidence in her unique personality, and tries to fit in with the others. It is not until her teacher, Mrs. Twinkle sets the bullies straight that Chrysanthemum really appreciates the unique name she is given. Henkes transports us into the live of Chrysanthemum with his i...more
This is one of the first books I remember my sweet mother ever reading me. It is the story of a little girl with a big name, and is often teased for it. But when she is introduced to her music teacher, Ms. Twinkle, she encounters self-confidence again. Growing up, I had a big name...Lindsey-Taylor, and my mom would always remind me of how beautiful it was even though it wasn't like many names. I personally relate to this book because of that I think, my mom intentionally read this to me to creat...more
I enjoyed this book and reading the discussion about it. I liked the attention to detail in the illustrations. For example, the books Dad was reading or the chalkboard with words. I also smiled at the little mice sleeping, some of them with their arms strait up in the air. Too funny! I got a kick out of the students names listed on the page seeing Kay and Max next to each other. I will have to share this book with Kaylee and her cousin Max when they are old enough to read.
As for the story itsel...more
As for the story itsel...more
What: This is my absolute favorite book by Kevin Henkes. I just love the story. Chrysanthemum absolutely loves her name. She loves everything about it. Then she starts school and other people do not like her name as much as she does. Students make fun of her name. This makes Chrysanthemum feel horrible and she begins to dislike her name. Chrysanthemum's teacher tells her that she loves her name, and if fact, she is named after a flower as well. She then tells Chrysanthemum that she is thinking a...more
I requested this book from the library after seeing it on the Best Children's Books list on Goodreads. My 10 year old daughter read it to her younger cousin and liked it so much that she then wanted to read it to me.
Chrysanthemum loves her flower name until she starts school and has its oddity pointed out to her by some classmates, one particular child deciding to pester her about it on a daily basis. I love that Chrysanthemum's parents reinforce the beauty of her name upon her return home each...more
Chrysanthemum loves her flower name until she starts school and has its oddity pointed out to her by some classmates, one particular child deciding to pester her about it on a daily basis. I love that Chrysanthemum's parents reinforce the beauty of her name upon her return home each...more
Chrysanthemum is a great story about finding ones identity and loving yourself for who you are. This book is a tale about a young girl who loves her unusual name until her peers at school begin to make fun of her. She thought it was absoultly perfect until she walked into school and they said, "your named after a flower." Her name was too long to fit onto a name tag, and who gets named after a flower, she thought? Then one day at music class the students were teasing her about her name when the...more
Chrysanthemum is a heart warming story that would be a great book to read to your class at the beggining of the year. I think it can teach children that the things that make them unique are the things that make them special. It can also be a great way to teach children how teasing hurts. I think this would be a great book for parents to read as well to see how positive encouragement and love help their child. I loved this book! It is a must have in the classroom.
Extension activity: After reading...more
Extension activity: After reading...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| read aloud | 2 | 28 | Jul 12, 2011 11:34am |
Kevin Henkes became an author/illustrator when he was nineteen years old, working on a card table in his bedroom.
Today he's the author of many award-winning picture books and novels.
More about Kevin Henkes...
Today he's the author of many award-winning picture books and novels.
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Apr 29, 2009 04:00pm
updated Apr 29, 2009 04:42pm