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Chrysanthemum is a classic picture book, both written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. Published in 1991, this story is classified as contemporary realistic fiction due to the fact that the conflicts, resolution, and overall messages are typical in today’s society, and valuable for children to understand. The story is told through a narrator in the third-person subjective style. Themes include peer relationships, with a focus on bullying.
Essentially, the plot involves a young girl, Chrysanthemum, who is teased for her name at school, despite the fact that her parents assure her that it is “beautiful and “perfect, just like her.” Her peers, (but more specifically, three other girls at school), taunt her because her name is so long, using half as many words as the English alphabet, and also because it is the name of a flower. As Henkes sums the book up on the publisher’s page, “Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.” Although Chrysanthemum’s parents reassure her that her name is wonderful and that the other children at school are just jealous, she still struggles to appreciate it the same way she used to.
It isn’t until her music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle, tells the class that not only does she happen to have a long name too, but it is also the name of a flower, just like Chrysanthemum’s. Better yet, she likes Chrysanthemum’s name so much, that she wants to name her future baby Chrysanthemum too. She makes Chrysanthemum the envy of the entire class. It is at that moment that the three bullies decide that Chrysanthemum’s name isn’t so bad after all, and they yearn to be her friend. With her newly regained confidence, Chrysanthemum realized that she loves her name again and still, after all. And, she doesn’t bother becoming friends with the girls even though they have finally accepted her because she knows just how shallow they truly are. Chrysanthemum is happy when she sees that karma gets them back at the very end of the book.
This idea of a young child being teased for something about their looks, or anything else that they have no control over, by other students and their peers is a very common occurrence even today. For this reason, it fits very nicely under the genre of contemporary realistic fiction. According to the Genre and Illustration handout, in contemporary realistic fiction, “the characters often seem like people we know, and the plots consist of events and actions that could and do occur in everyday life. Contemporary realism explores a number of themes, including growing up, peer and family relationships, and other contemporary, sometimes sensitive issues” which is precisely what this story does.
However, although the plot and theme of the story is believable and realistic, the fact that the characters are mice adds a whole new aspect. Mice in today’s world certainly cannot talk and do not behave like human beings. Because of this, the story partially falls under yet another genre; fantasy. However, it is a small part of the book, but because the characters are mice that are personified, that is a characteristic of fantasy rather than contemporary realistic fiction.
Textual Elements
Looking deeply into the textual elements that Henkes incorporates into the book, it is clear that his word choice truly adds a lot and enhances the story. For example, the author uses descriptive verbs in phrases such as, "she wilted," "she blushed,” “she beamed,” “she bloomed." He didn’t just say, “she was embarrassed” or, “she was happy.” Instead, he chose word that added vivid imagery to the reader’s mind. The text still remains relatively simple, but is certainly important to the story. The plot of the book, as explained in detail above, is all about Chrysanthemum and her struggle to accept herself and to be accepted by others. The setting of the book takes place between Chrysanthemums house and and the school that she attends. The main characters in the book are Chrysanthemum, her parents, and her bully, Victoria. There are other small characters in the book such as her classmates and her music teacher, who shares a similar flower based name. The book is told from a third person omniscient point of view. The author uses a very dark font text on the very bright white pages of the book. This contrast between the darkness of the test and the crisp and clean whiteness draws a focus to the text that otherwise would not be there.
Theme
Chrysanthemum has several themes that I imagine tug on the heart strings of not only me but most others that read it as well. I find that one of the themes is finding pride and confidence in who we are when others cause us to doubt ourselves. Before starting school Chrysanthemum thought her name was absolutely perfect. The book tells us how Chrysanthemum loved the way her name sounded when her mother woke her up and she loved the way it sounded when her father called for her for dinner. The book said that she loved the way it sounded when she whispered it to herself in the bathroom mirror. Chrysanthemum had so much confidence and pride had in her unique name. On Chrysanthemum’s first day of school she ran the whole way. When Chrysanthemum made it to school and attendance was taken and other kids made fun of her name. Her classmates Jo and Rita commented on how long it was and how it barely fit on her name tag. Victoria, another classmate, commented on how she was named after a flower. This made Chrysanthemum begin to think her name was absolutely dreadful. Chrysanthemum lost confidence in her name and even lost confidence in herself. The book shows this through illustration. When Chrysanthemum arrives to school instead of showing a smile like on the first day of school her facial expressions during class are sad, annoyed and helpless looking.
One person helps Chrysanthemum realize how beautiful her matchless name is as well as restores Chrysanthemum’s confidence. All the students thought Mrs. Twinkle, the music teacher, was an “indescribable wonder”. After hearing the other student’s making fun of Chrysanthemum, Mrs. Twinkle shares with her students her love for Chrysanthemum’s name. After hearing that Mrs. Twinkle thought her name was absolutely perfect, it was the boost Chrysanthemum needed to believe in her name once again. The book shows this by the illustration of Chrysanthemum leaving school with a smile on her face once again as she skips home from school. The ending sentence states “Chrysanthemum did not think her name was absolutely perfect, she knew it!” Chrysanthemum showed pride and confidence in her name once again, after others doubted its difference and uniqueness.
Characters
In the book there are a plethora of characters that play a large role in the story. Every character influences the main Character, Chrysanthemum. Every influence of the supporting characters shapes the story into what it is. Every character in the book plays a role in how the story ends. All of the characters are mice
The first character we are introduced too as well as the main character of the story is Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum is the main character. Chrysanthemum starts school, and was not expecting to be made fun of for her name which she loved. Chrysanthemum struggles with the teasing by her peers but eventually learns a life lesson that brings her confidence and pride in who she is.
Chrysanthemum’s parents obviously play a huge role the story because they are the ones who gifted Chrysanthemum with such a one of a kind name. They give her the name because they want the name to be “everything she is” and “absolutely perfect”. Chrysanthemum’s parents are a huge source of encouragement when she begins to doubt the name she was given. Her father tells her that her name is “Precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome”. They comfort Chrysanthemum making her feel better with hugs kisses and Parcheesi.
The characters that cause the main conflict of the story are Chrysanthemum’s peers Jo, Rita and Victoria. The make fun of Chrysanthemum and her beautiful name. “It’s so long” says Jo, “It scarcely fits on your name tag” says Rita and Victoria is the worst by saying things like “If I had a name like yours, I’d change it.” They cause Chrysanthemum to doubt the name she once loved so much. The illustrations in the book make Jo, Rita and Victoria even appear to look like bullies. One illustration shows the three on the monkey bars pointing and smirking at the sight of Chrysanthemum as if everything about her is a joke. They later learn a lesson from Mrs. Twinkle that will cause them to see that being unique is something to be proud of.
Mrs. Twinkle is described in the book as a “indescribable wonder”. She is the music teacher and all of the students really look up to her. She opens the eyes of not only Chrysanthemum but her bullies as well. Mrs. Twinkle shares with her students her own first name as well as share her love for Chrysanthemum’s name. This makes the students realize that being unique is something worth being proud of.
Artistic Elements
Chrysanthemum is a picture storybook. The story integrates both the words and the illustrations to fully tell the story. The illustrations help to expand upon the story and add elements that would not otherwise be seen. Enjoyable elements, such as the names of the self-help books the father is reading or the words that they all know on the board, would otherwise be left out. The elements such as the way the childrens names are written The illustrator used water color paints and black pen to complete the illustrations. The water color paints used provide bright colors throughout the book while the black pen is used to outline and provide small details, such as shadows and textures, that give the pictures a more defined look. The black pen also adds almost a naive element to the pictures making them seem somewhat more childlike. Chrysanthemum has pictures that are framed. Each illustration has a thin black line that surrounds the entire picture. This gives each illustration the effect of being its own picture instead of just one illustration in the book and also appearers to make the book look as though it is neater. The arrangement of the text on the page seems to change page to page. On some pages the text is below the pictures while on others it is above the pictures and some pages contain text both above and below the picture. Constantly changing the arrangement of the text on the page forces the reader the focus more on the pictures instead of just looking immediately to the bottom of the next page for more of the text.
For those who are further interested about the author and illustrator Kevin Henkes make sure to visit the website listed below. It is an excellent interview all about his illustrations on a website dedicated to the books he has written for children.
An example of the artwork in Chrysanthemum. Her sadness at being teased is evident and we can see that, as the story mentioned, her name scarcely fits on her name tag.
Analysis and Critique
Chrysanthemum is a literary effective book. The children who read this book will feel Chrysanthemum’s sadness at being made fun of by the other children. The book is filled with words that may not be seen in the average childrens books. The book is filled with words such as “scarcely” instead of hardly and “miserably” instead of another easier word. The literary style used in the book makes it easy for children to not only learn new words, but to use them in sentences. The great literary elements are paired with perfectly matching artwork. The pictures throughout the entire book perfectly depict and expand upon what is going on in the text. The pictures serve only to enhance the readers overall experience.
This story is relevant to just about any and every child’s life, tough it appears to be targeted at a younger audience. Not only does it deal with real issues of bullying that can be experienced several times throughout childhood, but also, it represents overcoming insults, recognizing jealousy, and being comfortable with who you are, no matter what anyone else may say or think. That is an important message not only for children, but also for adults, because even we struggle with those concepts sometimes. It is also an important message to learn not to make fun of other children just because they are different. In todays society many children go through bullying based on things as simple as having a funny name and this book provides them with a character to relate to and show them that everything will be ok in the end. It is also relevant because it has the ability to show children that they do not need to intend to cause pain to hurt others feelings. This will help children to learn to think about how what they are doing effects the people around them. It will teach them a valuable lesson about looking at things from another persons perspective.
One critique of the story is Chrysanthemum’s lack of standing up for herself or solving her own problem. The main bully in the story, Victoria, is consistently shown with her two other girl friends that are bullies as well, representing a power of three. Victoria is drawn to be physically being bigger than Chrysanthemum, has two yellow stars (one around her neck and one in her hair on her head), is the only character to wear white gloves (which can possibly be seen as a class issue), and chooses the lily-of-the-valley as her ‘new flower name’; all symbols of the power she maintains throughout the story. The mother and father characters are also stereotyped within the illustrations. The mother takes on the position of being loving, caring and soothing, always hugging Chrysanthemum, offering her cookies and sweets to help cheer her up, as if she is simply following her gut, or “motherly” instincts. Meanwhile, the father clearly supports the mother’s idea of just using physical affection to help their daughter, however, he seems a bit more skeptical. He reads up on books in order to learn how to handle the situation, perhaps encouraging his lack of “motherly” instincts.
Another critique of the book would be that throughout the entire story Chrysanthemum bases her opinion of herself off of others. At no point of the story does she decide that it does not matter what the other children think and stick to her decision. Everyday she returns home upset that the other children have been making fun of her and allows her parents to cheer her up and convince her that her name is in fact “ precious and priceless and winsome,” only to return to school the next day and have her confidence shattered. The book teaches many valuable lessons, such as putting yourself in others shoes, but apparently the lesson of accepting yourself regardless of what others think was not an important lesson to put into the book.
Citation
Picture Book Citation
Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum. Illus. Kevin Henkes. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1991.
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