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    Chrysanthemum
    Chrysanthemum
    Chrysanthemum
    Audiobook13 minutes

    Chrysanthemum

    Written by Kevin Henkes

    Narrated by Meryl Streep

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    She was a perfect baby, and she had a perfect name. Chrysanthemum. When she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name. And then she started school. "I'm named after my grandmother," said Victoria. "You're named after a flower." Chrysanthemum wilted.

    Life at school didn't improve. In fact, it got worse. Then the students were introduced to their music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle. Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle. And suddenly, Chrysanthemum blossomed...

    Editor's Note

    A joy to listen…

    Narrated by Meryl Streep, this lovely story of a little mouse who learns to rise above teasing and embrace the name that sets her apart is a joy to listen to, for parents and children alike.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWeston Woods
    Release dateJan 1, 1998
    ISBN9780545786089
    Chrysanthemum
    Author

    Kevin Henkes

    Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

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    Reviews for Chrysanthemum

    4.5/5

    1,079 ratings127 reviews

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    • 5/5
      What a fabulous gift for children and adults. In a brilliant and charming way, Kevin Henkes presents the challenge of being one who doesn’t quite fit into a neat, little box. I love how he captured the sting and the joy of childhood. It’s absolutely perfect!
    • 5/5
      Absolutely love this book!! The first time I heard it was at my moms friends house ( she read it to me before bed ). I absolutely fell in love
    • 5/5
      Meryl is excellent, and the soundtrack adds a lot! Very charming, highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Good book for teaching Main Idea and Theme. Main Idea - One little mouse loves her name, but her peers make fun of it. Theme - Believing in yourself, Overcoming challenges. Author's message - Treat others the way you want to be treated, Accept others' differences, Believing in yourself.
    • 5/5
      My kids loved this one from age 5 to 9. It was a very cute story.
    • 5/5
      It’s just a great book I love it so much
    • 5/5
      It is such a great book for my child
      I think it’s absolutely perfect
    • 5/5
      Love
    • 4/5
      Chrysanthemum, a tiny mouse loves her name until she starts school. Some of the kids make fun of her name. It isn’t until their music teacher, whom they all love, tells them she too is named after a flower, that they change their mind.
    • 5/5
      Chrysanthemum was a little mouse that loved her name until one day other friends started to make fun about it, and she felt it was not a cool name. However, a teacher named Mrs. Delphinium agreed that Chrysanthemum was a beautiful name and that just because it was long it did not have anything wrong. Then, Chrysanthemum loved her name again as much as her family, teacher, and now friends. Definitely, a book to read to experience what our names mean.
    • 5/5
      Great children's picture book! This book has a great message behind it and can teach younger students a lesson.
    • 4/5
      This story is about a mouse named Chrysanthemum and because of her name she is the subject of bullying by those in her class. During the story she decides that her name is not beautiful and fitting for her. But by the end of the book with the help of her music teacher Mrs. Twinkle learns that her name is in fact beautiful and very fitting for her. This story is one that would be great to read to help students learn that they themselves are special and unique also while obtaining a very descriptive vocabulary.
    • 4/5
      Chrysanthemum is a girl who is teased for her name, because it is different and long. A teacher at the school makes Chrysanthemum feel welcomed and also accepted, telling her that her name is special. Teachers should always be aware of what is going on in the classroom, and should always make sure that children feel accepted and welcomed for who they are.
    • 5/5
      I love reading this book at the beginning of the school year with the lower grades! As we get to know one another, this is a particularly powerful story to share. This is great for the PYP theme "Who we are"
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! I think that with the guidance of a teacher a younger student could really take away a good point from this book. The big idea/ message I believe is mostly on not letting mean things people say keep you down. Chrysanthemum was self-conscious about her name and its length and through the book the "wilted-ness" she felt got worse and worse. With the reassurance of her *awesome* music teacher, her peers looked at her differently and finally came to the sense that Chrysanthemum wasn't such a bad name after all!Some of the language in the text had a bit of an imaginative meaning. For example when it said, "Chrysanthemum wilted" I thought this was smart! The book had just established that a Chrysanthemum was a flower and saying "Chrysanthemum wilted" could make it a good time to ask students a question like, "does anybody know what "wilted" means"? Later on, after Chrysanthemum is reassured of her name the book states, "and she bloomed" again, another word related to a flower. I thought of a classroom modeling wilting and blooming and this could help students really understand the value of being nice to one another! Along with this, the writing in this book was very engaging and I think could be easily understood by its targeted age group. With the strong correlation between what is happening in the illustrations, students would be able to easily follow along with the story being told.The illustrations definitely engage readers and help readers to sympathize with Chrysanthemum. Some pages get a little busy with the pictures but for a young reader I believe this business is perfect for them. I particularly enjoy the page with all the name tags because it allows the reader to see Chrysanthemum's name written out, and you can compare it to her classmates' names to really see the point being made.
    • 4/5
      This book is very sweet and I love the illustrations. It’s about a girl named Chrysanthemum who has to come to love her name. I have a pretty average name, but I have had many unusual names on my class roster. It’s hard to explain why it’s so great to have an unusual name to kids, but this book nails it. It’s a simple book, but I think even older kids would appreciate the story!
    • 5/5
      This is a great read on the first day of school! This is a great way to begin an introductory to the school year. Some students will be able to relate to a long name or not liking their name. Great for the Elementary level.
    • 3/5
      This story is helpful for teaching the perspective of one who is bullied because of their name. It can be used a read-aloud and then teaching a mini-lesson about voicing one's thoughts in writer's workshop.
    • 4/5
      I use this book to teach my student about beginning, middle and end. It was a good mentor text to use while teaching the students in Writer's Workshop. The book has a lot of detail in the story and talks about how she is feeling and what she is thinking.
    • 5/5
      Great book for self esteem and being your own person. Book using repetition.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book for multiple reasons. To start, the writing of the book is very organized and the author, Kevin Henkes, does a great job with repetition throughout his story to show emphasis. For example, some sentences appear over and over again: "Chrysanthemum wilted. She did not think her name was absolutely perfect. She thought it was absolutely dreadful." These three lines appear multiple times throughout the story to show that Chrysanthemum is extremely unhappy with her name she once thought, and her parents think, is perfect. With this organized writing characteristic, the reader can really feel the main character's frustration with her name. I also really enjoyed the plot of the story. A story about how a child starts to hate her name because some kids teased her is easily relatable to children who have also been teased. Also, the story does a great job at describing how much Chrysanthemum ultimately loves her name and even though she was teased, she learns to accept her name and many children will learn that they should not let other kids tease them about their names and they should accept who they are no matter what. The plot is easily relatable, has conflict that ends up being resolved, and has a happy ending which children will enjoy. The main message that all students struggle with acceptance but eventually need to be comfortable with themselves is an important one to grasp but this author executes it perfectly.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed Kevin Henkes’ story Chrysanthemum because of its descriptive language and vivid illustrations that capture the reader and emerges them into the world of Chrysanthemum. Henkes describes the rollercoaster of emotion that Chrysanthemum felt about her name. He emphasizes how much she loved her name and how she “loved the way her name looked when it was written with ink on an envelope, when it was written with icing on her birthday cake, and how she loved the way it look when she wrote it herself with her fat orange crayon”. He then describes the embarrassment, shame, and sadness she felt about her name when her classmates ridiculed her, urged her to change her name, and she dreamt that her mean classmates were “plucking her leaves and petal one by one until there was nothing left but a scrawny stem” . Henkes then describes the bliss, pride, and joy she felt when her music teacher Mrs. Twinkle reveals that she too has a long name and is named after a flower (Delphinium) and decides to name her daughter Chrysanthemum because “it is absolutely perfect”. The illustrations throughout the story are very vivid and help the reader follow the story plot which is beneficial to students who are struggling readers. This story causes reader to think about how everyone has a name and although some might be more uncommon than others they are all beautiful. The overall message in this story is to appreciate and love ones name because it is an important part of what makes someone who they are.
    • 3/5
      This is a great book for young children and has a very important lesson that all children need to learn. Chrysanthemum loves her name until she goes to school and gets made fun of and wants to change it. At the end, her teacher shows the students how great Chrysanthemum's name is and the students want their names to be those of flowers too. The book teaches students that even if something is different about someone you should not make fun of them. This is very important because bullying occurs very often in schools today. I loved the message of this book which made it great. I also loved the illustrations that were a nice pastel. The last thing I enjoyed was the main character. She was so cute and the reader could sympathize with her and she made you want to keep reading.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book because of the moral of the story, the adorable pictures and the vocabulary level. The story was about a mouse who was given the name Chrysanthemum and she loved it all her life until she came to school. Every made fun of her name because it was so long and different. Then she started to hate her namea nd wish she never had it. Then, a new teacher came to school who everyone loved and she had a unique flower name as well and said that she loved the name Chrysanthemum. Everyone was shocked and then they started to love her name too and wish there names were more unique. The moral of the story was to not care what other people think. If you like something, but other people don't, it's okay to be different. The story was so cute and easy to read. the pictures were adorable. I think young readers will really like this book.
    • 4/5
      Chrysanthemum is a book about not letting what others have to say get you down. In this book Chrysanthemum is bullied because of her name. In the end, she decides that she loves her name and that no one is going to take that from her. I think this book would be great for second or third graders because it has some tier two words that may be challenging, and because its message is about having confidence within yourself. I believe it would be good for children at that age to read about and to see how mean it is to make fun of someone.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed reading 'Kitten's First Full Moon' so I decided to give this book a try... Henkes does not disappoint. 'Chrysanthemum' is easily relatable to any child who has also been teased about their name. The text and illustrations work well to tell a heartwarming tale about self-acceptance and self-confidence. It is also the only book I've read so far that depicts a pregnant character.
    • 4/5
      This was one of my favorite books when I was was child. I loved everything about the book especially the message and the illustrations. First, the author had incredible pictures that made me want to read the book more than once. My favorite picture in the book is Chrysanthemum on her way to her first day of school. The author drew her in bright colors and it always reminds me how I felt on my first day of school - happy as the sunshine. Second, I love the message the book has to offer. The big idea of this book is that it is okay to be different, it is what makes us unique! I related to this book because I always felt that my name was out there and I endured bullying because of it. Chrysanthemum's classmates made fun of her name until they met their music teacher who has a long name that would barely fit on her name tag. When the music teacher tells the class that she's thinking about naming her daughter Chrysanthemum, suddenly everyone in the class loves her name! This book sends a wonderful message about acceptance.
    • 5/5
      This book is a delightful story about a girl whose parents love her very much and name her Chrysanthemum, which she loves is her name, until kids at school begin to make fun of her. This could prompt a discussion on bullying, self worth, and how your words make people feel. I love the illustrations. I would be cautious if you have a foster student or students from freshly broken families as reading this might be upsetting, seeing whole, happy, loving families as opposed to theirs.
    • 5/5
      Chrysanthemum is a story of a young girl mouse who grows up and absolutely loves her name. That is until she has to go to school. While at school Chrysanthemum is constantly bullied for having such a unique name after a flower. The children continuously bully her stating that her name is to long, it doesn't even fit on a name tag, and she's named after a flower, ew. Chrysanthemum struggles with this, but her parents constantly reassure her that her name is absolutely perfect, she doesn't think so. It isn't until a surprise visit from the music teacher, where she explains that she too has a name so long that it doesn't fit on a name tag, and is also named after a flower, Delphinium, that Chrysanthemum finally feels better about her name. This book is a good representation of bullying, family support, and acceptance.Teaching Ideas: teach children about bullying and how its bad, as well as why not to bully, also teach children about acceptance and how to love each other for how they are.
    • 5/5
      This is a book about a little mouse named Chrysanthemum, who grows up loving her name, until she goes to school. The other students tease her all day long every day at school for having such a unique named. Every day, she puts up with the other mice ridiculing her for her name, and every evening, her parents give her love and support and reassure her that her name (and everything else about her) are "perfect." Finally, the music teacher tells the class that her first name is Delphinium, and that she's named after a flower, just like Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum feels better about her name, and all the other mice think that her name is cool.This book is a good example of family support. Chrysanthemum's parents support her through her rough start to school and they do a lot to help her. On one page, you can see her father reading a book called "A Rose by Any Other Name...Understanding Identity." It's a way of reassuring kids that even though kids at school may tease you, you have people who love and cherish you.