Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum!

I have a new appreciation for this book as a parent - I feel the same way about my sweet Phoebe as Chrysanthemum's parents do. She is absolutely perfect.

And so is this book.

I've also come to realize that my sweet, absolutely perfect daughter is obsessed with villains, and she told me she needed to look at the page of nightmare Victoria picking Chrysanthemum's petals for ten minutes.

I have a feeling we will be reading this again for bedtime very soon... ( )

AR: 3.3

Independent Reading Level: Kindergarten
Awards/Honors: None ( )

Genre
Picture books for children
Tone
Feel-good
Funny
Writing Style
Thoughtful
Subject
Girls
Mice
Names, Personal
Schools
Self-esteem in children
Teasing
Character
Anthropomorphic
Sympathetic

Chrysanthemum is a wonderful read for young readers. At the beginning, Chrysantemum was named after a beautiful flower and grew up (to school age) loving her name and thinking it was absolutely perfect. But as soon as she started school, that was not the case. Everyone laughed at her and made fun of her, and she soon started dreading school and dreading her name. Her family- reassured her at home that her name was unique and perfect, but Chrysanthemum was still incredibly dreadful. A turning point in the story came when the class's favorite music teacher explained that her name was very long like Chrysanthemum. Her name was Delphinium, another kind of flower. That made Chrysanthemum beam and bloom as she suddenly was proud of her name again. Her classmates pretended to have a name that was a flower as well. This story teaches acceptance and difference, both of which should be stressed in the lives of young children. ( )