Chrysanthemum

Bibliographic Info: Henkes, K. (1991). Chrysanthemun. Illus. Kevin Henkes. New York, New York: Greenwillow.

Annotation: Chrysanthemum is a perfectly beautiful baby with a pefectly unique name. Before school begins, Chrysanthemum loves her name. Once she starts school it is a whole new story. The children in her class find her name weird, silly and a little bizarre. Chrysanthemum looses confidence in her name until an unlikely "hero" comes to her rescue.

Genre: Picturebook, Comedy/humor

Grade Level: PK-2

Readers who will like this book: Any children with a unique name or if they have a trait they may think is diferent. Children who are about to start school as well as those in the early elementary grades.

Personal response: This book has such an amazing message in it and I think most people have felt "different" for some reason at one point in their lives. Some of us have even been lucky enough to have someone stand up for us as Chrysanthemum's teacher did. Rating: 4.

A question you would ask before reading: Has anyone ever been nervous or felt afraid that their classmates would judge them because of a unique trait?

Reading Strategies Connection:
a.) Quickwrite
b.) A quickwrite allows children to take the time to find a personal connection to the book. They are allowed to record their relevant experiences in a short paragraph after the book.
c.) A quickwrite would be an amazing way for children to independantly share their experiences of feeling different or feeling afraid due to something that was unique about them. The class could volunteer to share their writing or keep it personal between the teacher and the student. I think this is a beneficial way for a teacher to understand a child's personal fears or insecurities.