Hurray! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday! And today’s Perfect Picture Book is one of my all time favorites. (So is next week’s and really I wish I could have put them both up in one day but all in good time…!) Assuming even 9 people besides me post books today, our archive list will be over 100 books already – isn’t that great?! It’s becoming a real resource! 🙂 Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who is participating!
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Written and Illustrated By: Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books, 1996, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 4-8
Topics/Themes: following the rules, consequences
Opening: “Lilly loved school. Lilly loved the privacy of her very own desk. She loved the fishsticks and chocolate milk every Friday in the lunchroom. And, most of all, she loved her teacher, Mr. Slinger.”
Brief Synopsis: (From Amazon.com Review) Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, Mr. Slinger–until he takes away her musical purse because she can’t stop playing with it in class. Lilly decides to get revenge with a nasty drawing of “Big Fat Mean Mr. Stealing Teacher!” but when she finds the kind note he put in her purse, she’s filled with remorse and has to find a way to make things right again.
Links To Resources: Lilly Classroom Activites, Color Lilly, Lilly Maze, Lilly Dot-to-Dot, Make Your Own Purse & other activities, more Lilly activities (please scroll down past Chrysanthemum)
Why I Like This Book: Kevin Henkes perfectly captures the excitement of having something new and treasured to share with friends and the overwhelming difficulty of staying within the rules on such an occasion. Lilly’s exuberance feels so perfectly real. Without preaching or moralizing this story shows the importance of behaving properly, that actions have consequences, and that it is within a child’s own power to correct a mistake – that just because she didn’t handle a situation quite right the first time doesn’t mean she can’t do it better tomorrow.
I love Lilly… 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
(And if you posted a Perfect Picture Book, please don’t forget to add your link to the list below!)
Now, then, onto a couple other things.
First, the results of the contest poll have shown conclusively that you are inconclusive 🙂 Only “No thank you I’m too busy” got only 1 vote 🙂 Since everything else was pretty evenly split across the options, including the easy-going types who were willing to do whatever worked for everyone else, I think we’ll do a contest every 2nd or 3rd month. We’ll skip January to give everyone a rest, and then do one in February (Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day leap instantly to mind :)) and see where we go from there. Sound good?
Second, when I started my blog last year, I did a few author/illustrator/author-illustrator interviews along with book giveaways that people seemed to like. (Karen Orloff, Cori Doerffeld, Ryan Sias…) I’d like to get back to doing some of those because I always like meeting the creative minds behind the picture books we all love and we can learn so much from them! So once a month on Saturdays we’ll have someone awesome over to chat. Of course there will be delicious breakfast items on offer (aren’t there always?)
If there are any particular questions you’d like answered by our visiting authors or illustrators, please be sure to let me know! What are the things you secretly wonder about while browsing through the bookstore? I want everyone to get the most they can out of the interviews, so please don’t be shy – shout your questions right out! 🙂
Have a great weekend, everyone! (And don’t forget to post your Perfect Picture Book Link below if you have one!)
Susanna Leonard Hill 
You probably did, Stina. It was very popular… still is 🙂
The purse is “musical” because of the coins jingling inside. Money! Even better! 🙂
Thanks for sharing – I have not read this one myself!
I think it is so cool that you mentioned that if 9 people besides yourself posted this week, there would be over 100 resources in the Perfect Picture Book list, and not only did you get nine, you got NINETEEN! That is so wonderful, and is, I believe, a tribute to you for having such a good idea for a series that people are eager to participate in each week.
sounds like a wonderful book. i am curious to see the situation is handled. will add it to my list!
What a great idea for promoting great picture books, and thanks for an excellent review.
Such a classic! (and I can mentally picture Lilly swanking around with her cherished purse…)
Great to get many creative minds selecting and promoting picture books = the more choices for our kiddos (and their teachers, librarians, parents & grandparents), the better!
found you through MotherReader & Lee Wind's Comment Challenge)
**Katy Manck
Recommending YA books beyond the bestsellers at http://BooksYALove.blogspot.com
Follow me on Twitter @BooksYALove
I love the sound of this book. It sounds like a great one for kids – great message but not too preachy.
It's definitely worth the read, Miranda!
Thank you, Beth! And I'm thrilled! We're up to 110 books with resources. I think it's time to start letting parents and teachers know the list exists! I'm also going to post the list in different formats so it's easier to search.
It's really great! So well done!
I'm so glad you like it, Magdalena! Please feel free to join us, and/or spread the word to anyone you know who might find the resource useful!
Thanks, Katy! I'm glad you like it. I'm going to have to rush right over and see your blog – I love the idea of YA books beyond bestsellers!
It really is very well done!
I can't imagine anyone not liking Lilly, she is so delightful!
She really is, isn't she? I'm looking forward to reading Henkes' new book about Penny! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read.
I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check
out new stuff you post.
Best,
ErwaNs
Picture Me