Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
★ Top 10 book of 1991 · #8 on Best Books of 1991
A little girl is delighted by her own name until she begins school, where classmates start teasing her about it. This picture book looks at how being laughed at can change the way a child feels about herself.
Best for: Young children dealing with teasing, and parents reading aloud with them
Chrysanthemum is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 1991, out of 23 1991 books that cleared our data bar.
What Chrysanthemum is about
Chrysanthemum is a young mouse who loves her name and thinks it is perfect, until she starts school. Classmates Jo, Rita and Victoria tease her for being named after a flower and for having a name too long to fit on a name tag. At home, her parents comfort her with favorite foods and a game of Parcheesi, and her father quietly reads up on child psychology. Then the music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle, arrives, and she has a surprise of her own about names. Kevin Henkes wrote and illustrated this 1991 picture book, which has earned a place on several lists of the best books for children. It is a warm, funny story about teasing, confidence and feeling at home in your own name.
Chrysanthemum on the Best Books of 1991
Chrysanthemum came out in 1991. Of the 23 books first published in 1991 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #8 on our Best Books of 1991 list.
Why it made the list: 197 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (11 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1991 list
- Reaper Man Terry Pratchett, #6
- Witches Abroad Terry Pratchett, #7
- Xenocide Orson Scott Card, #9
- Farmer Duck Martin Waddell, #10
See all Best Books of 1991 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1990 Best Books of 1992.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 163 want to read it, 5 are reading it now and 29 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 from 11 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 43 | 55% |
| Reader love | 91 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 30 | 20% |
Questions about Chrysanthemum
When was Chrysanthemum published?
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes was first published in 1991.
Was Chrysanthemum one of the best books of 1991?
Chrysanthemum is #8 on BookWard's Best Books of 1991, out of 23 1991 books that cleared our data bar. 197 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (11 ratings).
Why is Chrysanthemum on the Best Books of 1991 list?
197 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.6 out of 5 (11 ratings).
More of the best books of 1991
- Outlander Diana Gabaldon, #1
- Needful Things Stephen King, #2
- American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis, #3
- Shiloh Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, #4
- The Firm John Grisham, #5
- Reaper Man Terry Pratchett, #6
See the full Best Books of 1991, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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