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. ( )

Primary
Chrysanthemum is teased in school because of her name but learns to love it anyway.
I love this book's theme because it teaches that all names are special!

Teaching children to be different, it is good to be your own person and stay true to that.