Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

I don’t know what those kids are taking about…I love the name Chrysanthemum!  Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes, is one of the sweetest books I’ve read in a long time.  It is the story of a little girl who is given a very special name by her parents only to have it be a source of ridicule when she enters school.  She eventually overcomes her name insecurities with the help of her parents and a special teacher, Mrs. Delphinium.  The precision of the wording in this book was amazing.  I loved how Henkes incorporated flower verbs into the story as much as possible, such as “wilted” and “bloomed.”  Even though it is just a short picture book, we see Chrysanthemum‘s character develop throughout the story.  The illustrations didn’t wow me but they did capture the personalities and emotions of the characters very well.  I also liked how on some pages the author would expand on the story by putting a series of pictures in squares on one page that give more information than the words.  All in all, this is a wonderful story about the importance of a name that I’m sure many children can relate to.
            I would use this book to address two topics: bullying and names.  After reading this story, I would ask the students to describe how Chrysanthemum felt about her name before and after the students teased her.  I would then have students discuss or write about a time that someone teased them about their name or something else.  I think Chrysanthemum is a character we fall easily in love with and feel her pain along with her. So, I think children will be in the right frame of mind to discuss bullying after this book because they just felt the consequences of it first hand through Chrysanthemum’s experience.  To discuss names with this book, I would have my students journal about how they feel about their name.  As a homework assignment, I would have students go home and ask their parents why they decided to name them the name they did.  I would then have them share their name story with the class the next day.  I think this is an important assignment because I think it really cues students into their own uniqueness and how special they really are. 
Year Published: 1991              Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book     Horn Book Fanfare