Mia's Favorite: Chrysanthemum by Kevin HenkesIt seems that some of Mia's favorite stories are about sweet kids who are misunderstood or made fun of. This would worry me, except the stories always end up happy, with the character gaining confidence along the way. (Of course, it is only a story, so that's kind of required...but still.) Chrysanthemum follows this formula exactly, and heartens the reader with the sweet little mouse's nearly uncrushable attitude. She's so full of vibrance and energy on her first day of school, but is immediately teased for her long and unusual name. Day after day, she's teased more and more, until she thinks her name is 'absolutely dreadful.' It all turns around in the end, though, with Chrysanthemum remembering what she knew all along: her name is absolutely perfect. While Mia loved the story, I loved some of the vocabulary. This book had a few really great words I don't think Mia'd been exposed to yet -- winsome, begrudging, jaundiced, wilted, indescribable -- and they added such fun to the reading. I was pleasantly surprised by this cute book.
I remember hearing good things about this 'Little' series, but hadn't happened to run across them until now. Little Hoot is adorable! He's a young owl who loves his life -- all except for bedtime. After all, he as to stay up SO LATE when all of his friends get to go to bed SO MUCH EARLIER. He begs for an earlier bedtime with his little owl eyes drooping, but his parents insist on at least one more hour of playtime. The juxtaposition of Little Hoot pleading for bedtime while most children desire to avoid bedtime is seriously funny. I'm excited to check out the others in this series, as I understand them to be written along this same punch line. Plus, the simple illustrations are super cute. I loved Little Hoot, and Lauren must have, too, because she requested it over and over. Of course, I obliged her.
That's it for me this week! We found several other good ones this week that didn't make it on our favorites list: Mice and Beans (Mia's runner-up), The Animal Hedge (My runner-up), If You Give A Moose A Muffin (Lauren's runner-up). Lots of good stuff in our bookbag, too little time to cover it all. The story of my life.
What books did you love this week? Link up and let us know!
oh, I love Chrysanthemum! That was always one of my favorites when I was doing my student teaching in prek!
ReplyDeleteWe love Little Hoot and the rest of the Little series, too, but you must go check out a different book not from the series by Krause Rosenthal called Spoon. It's among my very favorites of our whole kidlit collection!
ReplyDeleteI am first. Oh how exciting!!
ReplyDeleteLittle Hoot sounds like one we will have to search for!! And there is more??!! Yeah!! I love series.
Those look like fun reads. I can't wait until I get my car back from the shop. One of our first stops will be the library!
ReplyDeleteChrysanthemum is one of my favorites! It hits home...I have a weird name! :) I use to read it every year to my class at school. Makes me miss teaching...almost! I love being a mom!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, GREAT picks! I love both of those books - even more than my girls do! :) I would've joined you this week, but I've been avoiding the library since it's spring break week here. I don't feel like fighting my way through the piles of kids.
ReplyDeleteI think we may be stalking each other, because every time you post a book you've checked out, we've either just checked it out or returned it! I love both those books!
ReplyDeleteThose look like great books! I like the color illustrations - fabulous art is key in great children's books, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed What We Found at the Library before, but I seriously love the idea! Is it just for kids' books? And is it strictly library books or anything you're reading? I do love our library (and use it often), but the books I'm currently reading didn't come from there. Let me know what the "rules" are, and hopefully I can join in sometime! :)
Oh! I almost forgot - belated PerPoTues will be this coming Tuesday (3/23). So sorry I didn't get the post up before!!