Chrysanthemum
This story is about a little mouse (girl) who has been told her whole life how wonderful and perfect she is. She truly believed this until she started school. All of her classmates teased her about her name, saying it's too long or that she was named after a flower. Each day she would go home upset and her parents would assure her that her name is beautiful and perfect just as she is. The cycle continued throughout the book until the end. Her music teacher stood up for her and shared with the class that she too was named after a flower and that her daughter has the chance to be named Chrysanthemum. This makes her feel much better about herself and suddenly all the students want to be named after flowers. This story would work well with first through third grade. It would be great to introduce bullying and also it would show that teachers are here to help, not just teach. Student could also be assigned roles of the peers in the book and act out different ways they could have responded instead of their rude comments.
