The Reading Nook – Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum can be found in the Duplin County library system. If your local branch doesn’t have it, give them a few days and they can usually locate it for you!
Photo provided by Tammie Blackburn, The Reading Nook
Hello, and welcome back to “The Reading Nook” where the focus is using great stories to create special moments between caregivers and the young children they love!
Lots of us have friends named Lily or Rose. Relatives named Daisy or Pansy. Even acquaintances named Violet or Iris. But Chrysanthemum? Not too many of us have ever met a Chrysanthemum before. In this book by Kevin Henkes, though, you’ll meet a young girl named Chrysanthemum who loved her name and thought it was perfect… until she started school.
BEFORE YOUR READ: Talk about the little mouse and the large flower on the front cover. Explain to your child what a chrysanthemum is, you may even have some around the house at this time of year. Talk about the mouse’s name also being Chrysanthemum and what a long name it is.
WHILE YOU READ: The illustrations in many of Kevin Henkes books are very small and very detailed. Without disrupting the flow of the story, make sure to spend a bit of time talking with your child about the illustrations and how they help you understand the story better. Some of the classmates’ teasing may be a little over the heads of a young child and you may need to explain those parts to your child a bit. Talk about the way they can always depend on their parents to be on their side, even when they’re having a tough time with their friends.
AFTER YOU READ:
Go back through the book and track the feelings of Chrysanthemum at different points in the story. See if your child can label and explain those feelings and tell stories about times they have felt the same way.
Tell your child the story of how they got their name and how other family members got their names. Think about people you know to see if any of your friends or family have flower names.
Take a little family field trip to a nursery. Look for chrysanthemums. Find other flowers that your child likes and buy a few to take home and plant. Or, visit a local dollar store and buy plant seeds and starter pots to try and grow plants inside on your own.
Photo provided by Tammie Blackburn, The Reading Nook
And then …take some time to do some name activities!
From the story, look at things Chrysanthemum did with her name and give some of those a try – write it in the dirt, write it with a fat crayon, etc.
Write each letter of your child’s name on a small item – rocks, pecans, buttons, blocks. Have them practice putting the letters of their name in order. If this proves to be a bit too easy, add the letters of other family members’ names and mix them all together for your child to sort out and spell each name.
Use a paintbrush and water and have your child paint their name outside on a wall or driveway. On a very sunny day, it may be a challenge for them to spell their whole name before it begins disappearing.
Write their name for them with just a bit of space between each letter. Have your child trace around each letter with red, then orange, then yellow, etc., making a rainbow name.
Have your child write the names of each member of the family and count the letters in each one. Who has the longest name? The shortest? Are any names equal in length?
Kevin Henkes does an amazing job of writing interesting stories that young children can relate to, often featuring little mice. Here a few others you may want to read if your child enjoyed Chrysanthemum.
Photos provided by Tammie Blackburn, The Reading Nook
Happy reading, and, from Emilie Buchwald, always remember, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” See you next week with another great book!
