I teach kindergarten, and this book was great to use for shared reading. The students loved the big, colorful pictures, and the story about funny names.

Adorable as ever :) I'm thinking I might use this for my children's lit paper, hey, why not? Love it just as much as I loved it when I read it years ago. The illustrations are still great (and snarky!), and the writing's just perfect, capturing the imaginations of both young and old. It's truly a tale of individuality for the ages.

Do you what to buy a book you'll love to read? If you do, you should read Chrysanthemum By Kevin Henkes. Kevin Henkes is a good author. Chrysanthemum is a good children's book. If you are a mom you should read it to your child. They might love it like a favorite book. In the book Chrysanthemum loved her name until she went to school. The kids teased Chrysanthemum and said "you're named after a flower" and a girl named Victoria that was in her class teased her the most. Her parents said her name was perfect but Chrysanthemum did not think so. She had dreams that were nightmares like that Victoria was picking her like a flower. The main problem is she is picked on. I chose the book because it is interesting. The characters are classmates and Chrysanthemum and a music teacher and Chrysanthemum mom and dad. The book takes place at her mom and dads house and outside and school. I think the authors message is to not tease somebody (treat somebody the way you want to be treated.) If you want to find out if the problem's solved you should read the book.


also

Do you like mice? Then you will like Chrysanthemum. I chose to read this book because it was about mice. Chrysanthemum is a girl who was named after a flower and it came to the first day of school and everyone made fun of her because she was named after a flower. Everybody thought it was a funny name except for her parents and her teacher. Everybody said "That's a dumb name. Your names Chrysanthemum it barely fits your nametag" Every body there told chrysanthemum their names and they said their names were perfect. I'm not giving away the ending. You are going to have to read it. I will give you a hint though it turns out to be pretty good. I think that you should never make fun of someone about them. You're just making it worse and worse for you not the person who your making fun of. Its just an embarrassment. Kids through 1st and third grade should read this book because it teaches you a lesson.

Chrysanthemum hits a nerve with all the first graders I have ever taught in school. Everyone is so afraid of being teased about something and Chrysanthemum scores a victory in the end. It's great for the first of school for the young set.

CHRYSANTHEMUM wonderfully explores the common but often painful transition from safe preschool life at home to the larger world of life at school. Chrysanthemum is a sweet little mouse eager to start school who is soon mocked by her more conventionally named classmates for her thirteen letter long flower name her mother and father find "perfect". Though her classmate's taunts make her "wilt" at school she "blooms" at home in the evening from the comfort of her understanding parents and their hugs, kisses and games of Parcheesi. This picture book is a great read aloud since Chrysanthemum's comically cruel peers can be given individual humorous voices by the reader. All is resolved with a creative, happy (albeit far fetched) ending and the book can also be a good starting point for class discussions on tolerance and kindness to others. Cute, appealing drawings by author/illustrator Kevin Henkes really enhance this beautiful little story.

Chrysanthemum adores her name until she goes to school and gets teased about it. The kids pick at her because she's named after a flower, and her name is so long. The class has a music teacher who happens to be pregnant. She hears the children's opinions of Chrysanthemum's name and announces to the class that she also has a long name and is named after a flower. And, if her baby is a girl, she is thinking of naming her - Chrysanthemum! The kids change their minds about Chrysanthemum's name and decide that it really is pretty cool. The teacher has her baby, and named her Chrysanthemum.

This has long been one of our favorite books, I enjoy reading this as much as my daughter does listening to it! The story is cute, with a good little message and the pictures are adorable!

This book does well illustrate the harm done when children name call, but I have to admit that the teacher's sarcasm in response to the children's ridicule of Chrysanthemum could easily be misunderstood by a young reader as the teacher agreeing with the ridicule. Otherwise, a good book. If you read it out loud, you can always put your own inflection on the teacher's comment, so listeners will know that she doesn't approve of the bullies.

Just for a little background info on me, I have a BA in English as well as psychology. I worked as a children's library assistant for my first four years out of college. I'm also a mommy to a precious 2 year old daughter, Claire. I first read this while shelving books at the library, and I was constantly reccommending it. I can't wait until my little girl gets a little older so I can share this gem with her!!!

This story is sweet and a great way to start off a new school year talking about names of our new friends and classmates. Story lends itself to discussions about feelings, friendships, as well as activities in math and language.

My daughter Mercedes had a very similar experience. She loved her name until children started teasing her about having a "car" for a name. She was also frequently disturbed by the fact that she could never find anything with her name printed on it. This story helped her remember how special her name is. Just like her!

I am a teacher, now in 1st grade again, (23 years in every grade) and I love to create in my room a program called "The Guest Reader". This works on many levels for me, I get to not read for a change of pace, I can observe the children listening (which is how I begin to see better their receptive language and at times comprehension), I see another adult approach them free of my biases, you get a different person animating the story so voicing it is a new experience, children like making new friends when outsiders become involved in the cooperative spirit of working in your room. So there are bunches of reasons to encourage literacy through Guest Readers.
A number of years ago I had a great Principal. For a teacher those two words (great and Principal) often are not found together in the same sentence. She began weekly, then bi-monthly, visits into my room to share a story. Sometimes I handed one to her, once she made and illustrated one herself(see how cool Mrs. Gandara is -way cool) and once she brought this Henkes' book called Chrysanthemum. Ever since then I have read it at years' beginning and wished I had her back to read it. It's a terrific story to read aloud>I'd suggest it for your child's class when you visit, especially if you have a little girl. In the story a little character named wonderfully Crysanthemum has a special, family chosen and well-loved name and goes to school filled with home love and the joy of who she is ...there(in school) she meets with children who asked her essentially "What kind of name is that?" Since I watch this happen every year , year after year I like to hit it early on and hit it hard both to arm the kids and issue out my little warning to the group...let's grow a few gears for each other.Watch what you say and how you say it, conversely don't listen for "trouble".I love names and the history of why a family chose the name the child carries. It's such a gift to the child.So again, perfect book choice. Crysanthemum has to essentially re-gather herself and is aided really in being able to get back to the place where she is comfortable once again with her name,(though in a slightly different way)and she regains trust with her class and learns from the social interaction. Among other things she learns is that people have a certain power over you-they can reject you, and she also learns a few skills to cope without turning into someone who goes and repeats that lesson to another. (In the teacher world I call that food chaining-passing along the bad lessons to the next smaller victim). When Mrs. Gandara read it to my class I think we all sat enthralled by how she pronounced Crysanthemum, it just rolled around in her mouth like the loveliest name ever given, leave it to Henkes to find a perfect name for the point of this story on acceptance and learning to strenghten your belief in yourself. I use this a multiplicity of ways with the class, for discussion and for talking about socialization for sure. Henkes always has a kind of depth going on within his story world. I know the stories will resolve, but not always quite the way I might expect. Usually after a longer time spent on this story the class over the next weeks wants to listen to more Henkes. So I read Julius the Baby of the World, my favorite, and about Wendall and of course, all about Lilly. It's worth getting them all for a primary bookbox or for presents to children that are younger for sure. Henkes is a winner, don't hesitate.

My favorite line in this book , showing some of my juvenility, is when Crysanthemum is insulted by a girl who holds power in the social dynamic and is undoubtably feeling that power under some assault by Crysanthemum's arrival-when she announces the name has...and can you get this with the right tone kind of nasal..."thirteen letters. What kind of name has thirteen letters? " You see it everyday in classes and its wonderful to have an author with a gentle ear for it. Not to diverge again but I just went to a workshop where we were "trained" in Cooperative Learning in the Kagan model, a kind of anti birdwalk- all teacher designed allowable communication in which he opened with "People are social animals". Since they really are, it's very important to construct socialization into settings where you can think about it with the kids. Not as he did controlling the form and allowability of all thought, talk, time, seating, motions, everything- so nothing escapes to distract from your canned content, but it happens you can construct with children how they relate by sharing stories a bit removed from them and talking back about feelings, their reasons why they think that happened, what would they do. You teach ...you know..empathy. And you teach a relationship to control, literacy, problem solving. Mrs. Gandara read to kids about relating and she had the warmest, most authentic, connected relationship I ever saw to a group of 800 kids. They grew to respect her, go to her, listen to her and care about her. She built community in South Oxnard at Hathaway School and used in part this text to do it. I'm in heaven actually as her daughter is returning to teach next to me (5 or so years later) so I can get her to come in again and share lesson from Crysanthemum and the best name ever. Buy and enjoy.

I am a teacher, now 1st grade again, (23 years in) and I love to create in my room a program called "The Guest Reader". This works on many levels for me, I get to not read, I can observe the children listening (which is how I begin to see better their receptive language and at times comprehension), I can see another approach them free of my biases, you can get a different person animating the story so voicing it is new, children like making new friends when outsiders become involved in the cooperative spirit of working in your domain. So there are bunches of reasons to encourage literacy through Guest Readers. A number of years ago I had a great Principal. For a teacher those two words (great and Principal) often are not found together in the same sentence. She began weekly then bi-monthly visits in to my room to share a story. Sometimes I handed one to her, once she made and illustrated one herself(see how cool Mrs. Gandara is -way cool) and once she brought this Henkes book. Ever since then I have read it at years' beginning and wished I had her back to read it. It's a terrific story to read aloud, say at your child's class especially if you have a little girl. In the story a little character Crysanthemum has a special, loved name and goes to school filled with home love and admiration and the joy of who she is ...there she meets with children who asked her essentially "what kind of name is that?" Since I watch this happen every year , year after year I like to hit it early on and hit it hard both to arm the kids and issue out my little warning to the group...let's grow a few gears for each other.I love names and the history of why a family chose the name the child carries. It's such a gift to the child. Crysanthemum has to essentially regather herself and is aided really in being able to get back to the place where she is comfortable once again with her name,(though in a slightly different way) regains trust with her class and learns from the social interaction. Among other things she learns is that people have a certain power over you-they can reject you, and she also learns a few skills to cope without turning into someone who goes and repeats that lesson to another. (In the teacher world I call that food chaining-passing along the bad lessons to the next smaller victim). When Mrs. Gandara read it to my class I think we all sat enthralled by how she pronounced Crysanthemum, it just rolled around in her mouth like the loveliest name ever given, leave it to Henkes to find a perfect name for the point of this story on acceptance and learning to strenghten your belief in your self. I use this a multiplicity of ways with the class, for discussion and for talking about socialization for sure. Henkes always has a kind of depth going on within his story world, I know the stories will resolve but not always quite the way I might expect. Usually after a longer time spent on this one the class over the next weeks wants to listen to more Henkes. So I can read Julius the Baby of the World, my favorite, and about Wendall and of course, all about Lilly. It's worth getting them all for a primary bookbox or for presents to children that are younger for sure.

My favorite line in this book , showing some of my juvenility, is when Crysanthemum is insulted by a girl who holds power in the social dynamic and is undoubtable feeling that power under some assault by Crysanthemum's arrival-when she announces the name has...and can you get this with the right tone kind of nasal..."thirteen letters. What kind of name has thirteen letters? " You see it everyday in classes and its wonderful to have an author with a gentle ear for it. Not to diverge again but I just went to a workshop where we were "trained" in Cooperative Learning in the Kagan model, a kind of anti birdwalk- all teacher designed allowable communication in which he opened with "People are social animals". Since they really are, it's very important to construct socialization into settings where you can think about it with the kids. Not as he did controling the form and allowability of all thought, talk, time, seating, motions, everything- so nothing escapes to distract from your canned content, but it happens you can construct with children how they relate by sharing stories a bit removed from them and talking back about feelings, their reasons why they think that happened, what would they do. You teach ...you know..empathy. And you teach a relationship to control, literacy, problem solving. Mrs. Gandara read to kids about relating and she had the warmest, most authentic, connected relationship I ever saw to a group of 800 kids. They grew to respect her, go to her, listen to her and care about her. She built community and used in part this text to do it. I'm in heaven actually as her daughter is returning to teach next to me (5 or so years later) so I can get her to come in again and share lesson from Crysanthemum and the best name ever. Buy and enjoy.

We love the little mice of Kevin Henkes, and Chrysanthemum is no exception. This is a really sweet book about being different, and being okay with it. We have a ridicously long last name, so we read this one to our five-year-old girls in case they encounter a similar problem in school. It also provides a good starting point for discussions on why we don't make fun of other children's names, or for any other reason.

This is one of our favorite books! We have ordered it many times for gift-giving to other children.

I suppose that I first fell in love with "Chrysanthemum" because she had an unusual first name and so did I. As a child, I was teased mercilessly about my name, so I could certainly identify with poor Chrysanthemum.

Now I love to use this book in my classroom because it is a great discussion starter about fairness, kindness, and empathy. In it the heroine, Chrysanthemum, loves her name, until she goes to school where everyone has short, easy names. Thanks to a kind-hearted teacher she learns that an unusual name is really not so bad.

This is a great story for first through third graders (about ages six through eight or nine.) I particularly like this author/illustrator because of his delightful drawings and funny captions. His characters are warm and vivid.

This is a book my children want to hear "again! again!" and I don't mind reading it. Kevin Henkes has created a warm, endearing story that will reinforce a child's trust in the gift of family.

All parents can relate to how Chrysanthemum's parents feel about their daughter. "The day she was born was the happiest day in her parents' lives." They find her to be absolutely perfect and spend her early years lavishing love on her. As Chrysanthemum grows older, we can sense how good she feels about herself: her accomplishments of learning to crawl, walk, slide, ride a tricycle, read, and sing are recorded like snapshots on a single page. We imagine her parents behind a camera encouraging their little girl at every milestone.

Then she starts kindergarten, and her sense of self is shattered, which Henkes cleverly describes as her feeling "wilted." She's made fun of at school because her name is different; it's too long ("exactly half as many letters as there are in the entire alphabet!" shares Victoria). The taunts and jeers worsen, despite her parents' reassurance that she's still absolutely perfect in their eyes.

The outcome of Chrysanthemum's struggles lies in the hands of a caring teacher, who takes the time to notice this tiny drama in her classroom. Every child should be blessed to have an adult mentor as wonderful as Mrs. Twinkle, who thinks Chrysanthemum has an "absolutely perfect" name. Thankfully, with the help of Henkes' beautiful story, they do.

--Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester, Mom 2 Mom Connection columnist

This is a book my children want to hear "again! again!" and I don't mind reading it. Kevin Henkes has created a warm, endearing story that will reinforce a child's trust in the gift of family.

All parents can relate to how Chrysanthemum's parents feel about their daughter. "The day she was born was the happiest day in her parents' lives." They find her to be absolutely perfect and spend her early years lavishing love on her. As Chrysanthemum grows older, we can sense how good she feels about herself: her accomplishments of learning to crawl, walk, slide, ride a tricycle, read, and sing are recorded like snapshots on a single page. We imagine her parents behind a camera encouraging their little girl at every milestone.

Then she starts kindergarten, and her sense of self is shattered, which Henkes cleverly describes as her feeling "wilted." She's made fun of at school because her name is different; it's too long ("exactly half as many letters as there are in the entire alphabet!" shares Victoria). The taunts and jeers worsen, despite her parents' reassurance that she's still absolutely perfect in their eyes.

The outcome of Chrysanthemum's struggles lies in the hands of a caring teacher, who takes the time to notice this tiny drama in her classroom. Every child should be blessed to have an adult mentor as wonderful as Mrs. Twinkle, who thinks Chrysanthemum has an "absolutely perfect" name. Thankfully, with the help of Henkes' beautiful story, they do.

If you were to single out the one picture book author that most successfully puts their finger on the pulse of children's hopes and fears, the award for Greatest Long-Distance Therapist would go to none other than Kevin Henkes. I am a huge fan of "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse" and I found a great deal of enjoyment in "Owen" (though I feel it's not his strongest work). Even "Wemberly Worried" covers a lot of ground by directly confronting the fears of worrywarts everywhere. With "Chrysanthemum", Henkes discusses originality and how being different (even if you're different in name alone) can single you out in both good and bad ways. As a Henkes fan, I consider this book to be amongst his strongest.

Chrysanthemum feels that her name is absolutely perfect. She likes how it looks and she likes how it sounds and she likes that it is her name alone. Everything's going great until Chrysanthemum starts school. Suddenly everyone's making fun of her name. She has a class full of Sams and Eves and Victorias. There doesn't seem to be a place for a girl with as wildly original a name as Chrysanthemum. One student in particular, Victoria, makes it her goal to continually ridicule poor little Chrysanthemum day in and day out. Talking about it with her parents helps a little, but the next day the same thing occurs. It seems that Chrysanthemum is doomed to be unhappy until she meets the music teacher Mrs. Twinkle. Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle. And suddenly everything in Chrysanthemum's life is a whole lot better.

I liked the moral of this lesson and the way in which Chrysanthemum learns that it's okay to be original. I also liked the epilogue in this tale wherein the leader of Chrysanthemum's tormentors abruptly forgets her lines in the school play and our little heroine is vindicated. Call me shallow, but I always enjoy it when the villains in a piece "get their's". This is probably indicative of a singular shallowness on my part. Just the same, the fact that the similarly tormented Molly of the children?s book, "Molly's Pilgrim" never receives any vindication has always bothered me. So kudos to Kevin Henkes for punishing the bad guys mildly! Hear hear!

There are other less personally petty things I like about this book too. I always love a good Henkesian drawing. I love that the parents in these tales are always caring, available, and attentive to their children's needs. In this book I was especially amused by Chrysanthemum's father running to child psychology texts (like "The Inner Mouse Vol. 1: Childhood Anxiety" and "A Rose By Any Other Name...Understanding Identity") to help his daughter. I loved the extraordinarily cool Mrs. Twinkle with her hugely pregnant stomach, ballet shoes, and tail that twists into a musical staff. I loved it all.

If you have a child being teased by fellow classmates for being a little off, this may not be THE best book to offer, but it's pretty darn good. Give it a shot and see what you think. If you love Henkes, you won't be disappointed.

If you're looking for a cute, whimsical picture book to launch into a discussion with your child about respecting differences, this one has a major flaw. Love the pictures, love the whimsy, but when the little girl, Chrysanthemum, is teased for her name during naptime (the other girl snickers that chrysanthemums grow near worms and dirt, ugh), the teacher replies with sarcasm, "Thank you for sharing." Well, little kids don't get sarcasm--they take it literally. Why does the teacher not step in and say something straightforward about how that's an ugly statement? I don't want to teach my child that kids can get away with being nasty and teachers will look on in approval. True, a second teacher stands up for Chrysanthemum, but I think to let a teacher make a crack like that, without having some character call her on it, sends the message to kids that you can't trust teachers to do the right thing. At least the girl could've told her parents exactly what happened so they could say, "That teacher was wrong and we're going to talk to her" or something.

Do you like flowers? Well Chrysanthemum is a little girl who is named after a flower. She loved her name until she went to school.Chrysanthemum is the main character. Chrysanthemum has a problem with her classmates. They hate her name. But that's not the end of the book. And I won't tell you the end. But I will tell you that it's a great book. Also it's a 3.9 reading level and it is worth 0.5 points on accelerated reader. I made a 100% on the test and you'll love it. So don't come crying to me if you don't meet your reading goal. Because you're missing out on a great book. Go to your school library and check the book out.

I absolutely love this book. The characters are wonderful and realistic. Kevin Henkes understands the way kids think and feel!! It's a great story with a wonderful lesson. One of my top five childrens' stories.

One of the few books that my children love to hear over and over again. And it's one I actually don't mind reading over and over again. It's currently the very favorite of my 4 and a half year old daughter.

At first Chrysanthemum loved her name. Then when she got to school everyone made fun of her name.Until.....Mrs.Twinkle came.I like the book because I like Chrysanthemum. She is a funny mouse character!

Chrysanthemum was born. It was the happiest day of her parents lives. Chrysanthemum was sad when she went to school. Everybody made fun of her name. When she started to get made fun of, she thought her name was dreadful. Once Mrs. Twinkle came along she thought her name was mavelous. When Mrs. Twinkle anounced her name....Read the book to find out what happens next!!!

I REALLY liked the book Chrysanthemum, because it had a lot of feeling in the book. Kevin Henkes is a really good writer. Hope you read the book Chrysanthemum.

Chrysanthemum is a wonderful book. I like this book because it's
funny,and because it's by one of my favorite authors. I think it is great for people who need a heart-warming story,and for people
who think their name is not perfect.
Chrysanthemum is a little girl who thinks her name is perfect. When she goes to school, however, Victoria says her name isn't perfect. Read this story and find out what's next!

Chrysantmum loves her name but when she started school she thought her name was dreadful! Her name was spelled with thirteen letters,and she was named after a flower.The wicked Victoria even said she looked liked a flower . After the class was introduced to Mrs Twinkle,everyone thought her name was perfect! Chrsantmum was happy.I think this book is good for 3~8 years old readers,it is very interesting and has special names.I am 8 years old and I like to read story books to my 3 years old sister.

I got this book for my 4 year old daughter and she loves it. She loves ALL of Kevin Henkes books. My daughter has an unusual name so I am sure that later on as she progresses in school that she may encounter the Victoria's of the world and know how Absolutely Perfect that her name is for her and all that love her.

I am in Junior High and I still love this book! I read it for the first time in the 1st grade and enjoyed it very much. Its about a girl mouse who is teased about what an ugly, long name she has.. but finds out it isnt so bad after all.

The students from Mrs. Wicks' class at Silver Lake Elementary School in Middletown, DE loved this book. The class is a multi-aged group of first and second graders. The book is one of their books from the Principal of the Month Book Club. The children said that they loved the pictures because they were so colorful. They also liked when all of the students who teased Chrysanthemum wanted to be named after a flower just like her but did not like when they teased her. They loved her name and thought it was neat. Thank you for a great book. Mrs. Wicks' class!!

This has become my daughter's favorite book, read to her every night now. We've checked it out of the library and I fear we need to purchase it before the fines start mounting up! I love the detailed drawings and descriptive words ... they don't insult a child's intelligence but instead enhance vocabulary and observational skills. Adults and kids are entertained!

This book is wonderful. A great book for kids 3 to 7. Be happy with who you are is the message. Great ending and good use of descriptive adjectives. I'll be getting more books by this author. Jessica is quite good too.

I found this book at a teacher's workshop, and as an adult I related to this book. I have a very unusual name, and it was always hard for other children to understand my name. My parents always reinforced to me how special my name was, and this book does too. It helps any child realize that we are all very special people.

It is an adorable story that has a good message.

My family and I fell in love with this book when our oldest daughter entered kindergarten. As a new parent to a school age child, I totally related to the feelings and thoughts of Chrysanthemum's parents. Our children, like this precious little mouse , our "absolutely perfect". The book served as an excellent parent resource for tips on encouragement and support. My entire family has benefitted from this book, and each one of us has found a special way to relate to the characters. This book has also taught my children a wonderful lesson - the need for kindness to all despite our differences. We highly recommend this book!

I love reading this book to my daughter because it is a real story about a kid's experience. Kevin Henkes uses big words which can only enhance a child's vocabulary, and he manages to write a story that is a pleasure to read over and over again. A welcome addition to any library