Be Unique
Read to Inspire
Chrysanthemum
By Kevin Henkes
Summary:
A young girl mouse named Chrysanthemum loves her name. Her parents thought her name was perfect and so did Chrysanthemum. But, when Chrysanthemum starts the first day of school, her classmates start to tease her because of her long and unusual name, causing Chrysanthemum to loathe her name. When the school’s music teacher defends Chrysanthemum and her beautiful name, Chrysanthemum learns to appreciate her own name and even her classmates start to envy Chrysanthemum’s name too.
Lesson to Take Away:
Be proud of who you are, no matter what people say.
Even though Chrysanthemum was teased about her name, she still learns to accept and love her name. This book tackles bullying by telling a story about accepting who you are, no matter what other people say. The topics of teasing, self-esteem, and acceptance are addressed in this children's book.
Targeted Age Group:
This book is intended for children ages 4-9.
Related Common Core Literacy Standard:
Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
Famous Quotes:
“Chrysanthemum loves her name.”
“She loved the way it sounded when her mother woke her up...when her father called her for dinner...when she whispered it to herself...looked when it was written with ink on an envelope...written with icing on her birthday cake…”
“Chrysanthemum did not think her name was absolutely perfect. She knew it!”