Title: Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Author/Illustrator: Henkes, Kevin
Publisher and Date: Greenwillow Books, 1996
Genre: Picture Book, Animal Fantasy
Age Range: K-2
Summary: This book focuses on a cute mouse named Lilly. Lilly loves school; she loves pencils, chalk, her “private” desk, and most all her teacher, Mr. Slinger. Lilly tries to emulate everything that Mr. Slinger does in class and is so inspired by him that she decides she wants to become a teacher too. One day, however, everything changes. Lilly had the most exciting new things to show her class: a purple plastic purse, three shiny quarters, and shiny plastic shades. She is so anxious to show her new prizes off that she gets into trouble and Mr. Slinger has to take her items away. Lilly is furious and draws a mean picture of Mr. Slinger to get back at him. Mr. Slinger however writes Lilly a nice note about how her day will better tomorrow. Lilly ends up apologizing to Mr. Slinger and learns how to share her prizes with the class in an appropriate way.
Response: I loved this book! It would be very difficult to read this book and not love it! Lilly is just such a delightful character. You can just feel and see her childlike excitement throughout the book. Lilly is just like any young child; she is enthralled by anything new and exciting and cannot wait to share her discoveries with those around her. She also a very fickle character; one day she wants to be an ambulance driver and a diva, and the next day she decides she wants to be a teacher. This is part of what makes childhood so much; you get to discover new careers and have fun experiences without the pressure of having to make a choice right now.
The illustrations in this book are half the fun! They are done using black pen and watercolor paints. Each page is full of pictures that show you exactly what Lilly is doing and even thinking. I love the extra text Kevin puts above each picture. It adds to the story by letting the reader get inside Lilly’s head; young children will love this because they are getting to read someone’s private thoughts! The actual text works well with the pictures as well. One of my favorite pages in the book is when Lilly is handing her “I’m sorry” card and present to Mr. Slinger and the profuse apologies trail down the page until they get the picture. The reader really gets a sense of the seriousness of her apology.
Teaching Ideas: I cannot wait to read this book in my classroom one day. I’m sure all my students will love Lilly just as much as I did! She ends up being a great example of how to share things the right way in class, and of how to handle anger and disappointment in the classroom. These two things are likely to come up in any classroom and young students can learn how NOT to handle these situations in a fun way! The way Lilly eventually handles her problems and resolves her dilemmas will have you and your students clapping by the end of the story!
Author/Illustrator: Henkes, Kevin
Publisher and Date: Greenwillow Books, 1996
Genre: Picture Book, Animal Fantasy
Age Range: K-2
Summary: This book focuses on a cute mouse named Lilly. Lilly loves school; she loves pencils, chalk, her “private” desk, and most all her teacher, Mr. Slinger. Lilly tries to emulate everything that Mr. Slinger does in class and is so inspired by him that she decides she wants to become a teacher too. One day, however, everything changes. Lilly had the most exciting new things to show her class: a purple plastic purse, three shiny quarters, and shiny plastic shades. She is so anxious to show her new prizes off that she gets into trouble and Mr. Slinger has to take her items away. Lilly is furious and draws a mean picture of Mr. Slinger to get back at him. Mr. Slinger however writes Lilly a nice note about how her day will better tomorrow. Lilly ends up apologizing to Mr. Slinger and learns how to share her prizes with the class in an appropriate way.
Response: I loved this book! It would be very difficult to read this book and not love it! Lilly is just such a delightful character. You can just feel and see her childlike excitement throughout the book. Lilly is just like any young child; she is enthralled by anything new and exciting and cannot wait to share her discoveries with those around her. She also a very fickle character; one day she wants to be an ambulance driver and a diva, and the next day she decides she wants to be a teacher. This is part of what makes childhood so much; you get to discover new careers and have fun experiences without the pressure of having to make a choice right now.
The illustrations in this book are half the fun! They are done using black pen and watercolor paints. Each page is full of pictures that show you exactly what Lilly is doing and even thinking. I love the extra text Kevin puts above each picture. It adds to the story by letting the reader get inside Lilly’s head; young children will love this because they are getting to read someone’s private thoughts! The actual text works well with the pictures as well. One of my favorite pages in the book is when Lilly is handing her “I’m sorry” card and present to Mr. Slinger and the profuse apologies trail down the page until they get the picture. The reader really gets a sense of the seriousness of her apology.
Teaching Ideas: I cannot wait to read this book in my classroom one day. I’m sure all my students will love Lilly just as much as I did! She ends up being a great example of how to share things the right way in class, and of how to handle anger and disappointment in the classroom. These two things are likely to come up in any classroom and young students can learn how NOT to handle these situations in a fun way! The way Lilly eventually handles her problems and resolves her dilemmas will have you and your students clapping by the end of the story!
Here are two great lesson plans to check out:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=932
http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuides/lilyspur.pdf
Be sure to check out more of Kevin Henkes works!!!!
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=932
http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuides/lilyspur.pdf
Be sure to check out more of Kevin Henkes works!!!!
1 comment:
Oh, you have to love Lilly! You have written a very thorough response! Well done Kerry! Thanks for including such specificity about the illustrations and the links to the teaching ideas!
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