Chryanthemum

Chrysanthemum
By: Kevin Henkes
Genre: Fiction
Ages:

This is a story about a little girl named Chrysanthemum who loved her name until she went to school. When she got to school all of the children giggles at her name. Her parents tell her that her name is beautiful but she is still upset because the kids make fun of her. Her teacher comes to her rescue and tells the class that she too is named after a flower and has a long name. The children then become accepting of her name and she is happy again. Bullying in schools has become a very serious issue. Many children can relate to how Chrysanthemum feels when she is made fun of. This a great story to use when teaching the importance of acceptance.


Theme:
Acceptance of others helps people feel good and liked. It is important to accept everyone no matter what their differences. Choosing to accept people can save people from feeling hurt and left out.


About the author:
Kevin Henkes became an author and illustrator at the age of 19. He enjoys creating picture books, novels and his famous mouse books. He also loves to experiment with words, paints and ink.


Pre-reading activities:
Has there ever been a time when someone did not accept you? What was it they did that made you feel not accepted? Was something different about you that they did not want to accept? Activity: Role play situations as a class to encourage students to be accepting of students. Students should be given roles that would make situations in which acceptance would be needed.


Post-reading activities:
Students will write an acrostic poem for a partner using their partner’s name. Students will come up with nice words to describe good qualities about their partner. 

Source used:
http://www.kevinhenkes.com/