Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Lillly's Purple Plastic Purse is without a doubt my favorite children's book. The reason I discovered this book is because the little girl I babysit has had it on her bookshelf for almost as long as I have known her. It used to be the book I read her every night I was with her. I found it very touching for a children's book. Lilly's teacher, Mr. Slinger, gives her some moving encouragement: "Today was a difficult day, / Tomorrow will be better." I felt that this line showed how it is okay to make mistakes, but instead of letting it bring you down, let them teach you something. The story offers an important message in a way that young readers will understand.

LILY'S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE by Kevin Henkes is an adorable, engaging picture book that teaches the important lesson to children about patience and forgiveness. The story is about a little mouse named Lily who loves everything about school, but most of all she loves her teacher, Mr. Springer. She loves him so much that she writes stories about him, draws pictures of him, and even wants to be a teacher like him when she grows up. Until the day she brings her purple plastic purse to school, that is. Overwhelmed with excitement about her new accessories, Lily can't hold back from showing everyone and disrupting the class, even though Mr. Slinger told her not to. When he takes her purse away for the rest of the day, Lily becomes very upset show more and decides to draw a mean picture of Mr. Slinger and hide it in his bag. But on her way home, Lily finds a note from Mr. Slinger and she feels really bad. The next day, Lily apologizes and asks for forgiveness, which Mr. Slinger gladly gives. I really liked the interaction between the text and the illustrations in this book. The vivid pictures seemed to be just as important as the words - most of the pictures even included little texts of their own, like separate dialogue or thoughts. And the illustrations add a lot to character and plot development. I also like the way in which the text and pictures are placed on the pages; they are not always in the same spot, like just on the top or bottom of the page. As I mentioned earlier, Henkes addresses important themes of forgiveness and patience, and also of saying sorry, which is something most people struggle with sometimes. After reading this book with students, I would ask them all to think of someone they may need to apologize to and then have them draw a picture or write a note, like Lily did, to say sorry to that person and then have them deliver it. show less

Lily's Purple Plastic Purse is a great book about making snap judgments. Lily gets a new purse and takes it into school. When the teacher takes it away during class, she writes this terrible note about how the teacher is a mean thief. She gets it back at the end of the day and feels bad that she made the decision to write the note out of anger. It's a good way to tell children that making snap decisions out of extreme anger or sadness or even happiness can lead to negative consequences.

This book was recommended to me. Lilly's joy about her grandmother's presents, especially her new purple plastic purse, is not about greed or an excessive interest in material acquisitions: she is delighted by the marvels that exist in our world.And she wants---needs---to share her enthusiasm. RIGHT NOW!

When her adored teacher, Mr. Slinger, confiscates her gifts, she is upset. Her feelings change from sadness---she wants to cry---to anger and she draws a mean picture of Mr. Slinger and puts it where he will find it. When she sees that he has included an understanding note when he returns her things, she once again wants to cry. Finally, she writes a story in which she apologizes. The next day she shares the story and snacks that her show more parents have made. During Sharing Time, Lilly demonstrates the many uses of her new items and she and Mr. Slinger do a dance. Lilly manges to keep her stuff safely and quietly in her desk all day.

Mr. Henkes does a wonderful job of showing the unbridled enthusiasm of young children and creating a teacher who can harness it. Lilly's changing feelings are reminiscent of the genie trapped in the bottle for hundreds of years. She goes from inner directed guilt to outer directed anger, but when she gets new information and realizes that her teacher is not angry with her, she is able to reconsider her feelings and go back from anger to guilt and then forward to seeking forgiveness through her actions. Sorry; it's much clearer in the book. What I'm getting at is that this is a wonderful book to use to look at how we handle situations in which we are wrong. This is a great book to use for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because Lilly does Teshuvah: she makes amends and, given the same set of circumstances, behaves better.

The artwork is colorful, the text plentiful---it spills over into the pictures. (In other words, I'm glad I don't have to read it aloud to a group.) show less

Not gonna lie, looking back, I find myself extremely irritated by Lilly's behavior, but then, we were all children at some point in our lives, brinnimg with impatience and excitement. In the end, valuable lessons are learned, so this is overall a pretty decent kids' book. 3.5/5 stars.

This is such a cute book that can be used in the lower elementary classes to show the importance of patience. Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher Mr. Slinger. When Lily brings in her new items to show everyone Mr. Slinger asks her to wait before showing the class. Lily is too excited and when she starts showing the class Mr. Slinger takes her prized possessions away. Lily gets extremely angry and ends up doing something that she will regret later. This book has very intriguing illustrations that adds to the text and teaches children that there is an appropriate time to share and play and other times that aren’t.

I so liked this wonderful book. Lilly is a character that you simply have to love. She is smart, sassy while clumping around in bright red cowgirl boots. When Lilly is enthralled with her new object, she brings the purple purse to school.

Happily flaunting the purse, she feels so excited that she cannot contain herself. Interupting the teacher, demanding attention, nets the fact that her purse is taken away and stored by the teacher.

Sassy Lilly writes a terrible, mean spirited letter about her teacher. Later, realizing the error of her ways, she apologizes. Whereupon, she learns some valuable lessons.

I smile each time I read Caldecott-winning illustrator Kevin Henke's master piece. The illustrations were so marvelous in showing show more happiness, anger, and reconciliation. show less