Chrysanthemum

January 24th - 28th is No Name-Calling Week!  This week provides a wonderful opportunity to talk with your child about the concept of put-ups and put-downs.  A great book to share with your child is Kevin Henkes Chrysanthemum.  Chrysanthemum is a little mouse who has the perfect name, or at least she thinks she does until her first day of kindergarten.  She is teased by the kids at school because she is named after a flower.  

Chrysanthemum is a great book to start a conversation about name calling.  Since children have experience with being teased, the book is very easy for students to make text-to-self connections.  Reading this book with your child will provide you and opportunity to share a time when you were teased and it might provide your child a forum to share a time when they were teased.  


1.  Read to the second page of text. "Chrysanthemum.  Her parents named her Chrysanthemum".
Tell your child you can make a text-to-self connection and share how you decided upon your child's name.

2.  Read to the tenth page of text  "I wish I could, thought Chrysanthemum miserably."
Ask your child: How is  Chrysanthemum is feeling?  Have you ever felt that way?

3.  Read to the eighteenth page of text "After all, it's absolutely perfect."
Ask your child: Why are the kids are making fun of Chrysanthemum?  Talk about some of the vocabulary used by Chrysanthemum's parents-- envious, begrudging, discontented, and jealous.  Share a time when you were envious or jealous.

4.  Read to the twenty-first page of text "She loaded the pockets with her most prized possessions"
Ask your child to share a time a good luck charm helped them through a difficult or scary situation.

5.  At the end of the text Chrysanthemum feels great about her name because of her teacher Mrs. Twinkle.  Ask your child: What lesson is the story trying to teach us? What can you do the next time someone teases you? 




This book really lends itself to an open-ended conversation between you and your child about bullying in school.  It is also a great opportunity to discuss how Chrysanthemum shares her feelings with her parents. Her parents help boost her spirit and support her!  Sometimes kids just need reminded they can share anything with their parents!