As a kindergarten teacher I am always looking for ways to extend the lessons I teach in my classroom, this book does just that. Because sticker characters from many of our favorite Kevin Henkes' books are included, it gives kids an opportunity to "act out" the themes of self-value, bravery, and other great lessons demonstrated in those books. Since the stickers are reusable they provide limitless fun. I highly recommend this book.

Lilly is a great little mouse who loves school, her teacher and as it turns out- sharing. But she has trouble waiting. This is a great book about when kids get angry and the consequences. The pictures are great too! Although I have not read the Spanish version, we are going to have our daughter's teacher read this into a tape recorder so she can hear it from a native speaker.

"Once Around the Block" is my favorite book. It demonstrates my lifetime goal of helping people on a daily basis in a simple, humorous, heartwarming manner. This book provides an excellent social studies lesson for children, but kids will enjoy the book for its cute story and fun illustrations.

I think this book was very good. I like how Kevin Henkes writes all his book. I think He should write a sequel on The Zebra Wall. Maybe he could have a miracle come in The Vorlob family. I think they should end up being able to have more children and have it be another girl, and redue the F wall.

My family and I fell in love with this book when our oldest daughter entered kindergarten. As a new parent to a school age child, I totally related to the feelings and thoughts of Chrysanthemum's parents. Our children, like this precious little mouse , our "absolutely perfect". The book served as an excellent parent resource for tips on encouragement and support. My entire family has benefitted from this book, and each one of us has found a special way to relate to the characters. This book has also taught my children a wonderful lesson - the need for kindness to all despite our differences. We highly recommend this book!

Chrysanthemum loves her name- she whispers it to herself constantly. Her parents reinforce how unique and special she is, which is why they chose her "absolutely perfect" name. Chrysanthemum thinks her name is perfect, too- that is, until the day she enters Kindergarten and the kids make fun of her. From that day on, she is crestfallen every day she returns home from school, and it's up to her parents to bolster her confidence. Still, there's no hope for poor Chrysanthemum's broken spirit- until a substitute teacher with an equally unique name teaches the class, and makes all the girls wish they had a perfect name like Chrysanthemum, too. Kevin Henkes' books are great for kids, and equally enjoyable for adults(look for the subtle designs in the illustrations, like Chrysanthemum's Father reading child psychology books while her Mom comforts her)- it's the little attention to details that makes Henkes a favorite kids author.

Chrysantmum loves her name but when she started school she thought her name was dreadful! Her name was spelled with thirteen letters,and she was named after a flower.The wicked Victoria even said she looked liked a flower . After the class was introduced to Mrs Twinkle,everyone thought her name was perfect! Chrsantmum was happy.I think this book is good for 3~8 years old readers,it is very interesting and has special names.I am 8 years old and I like to read story books to my 3 years old sister.

I read a funny book called Sheila Rae, The brave. This book was written by Kevin Henkes. My favorite character is Sheila Rae because she is funny and because she has my name. This book is funny and exciting because Sheila tries to act brave in front of everyone. If I were the older sister I would do the same as what Sheila did, try to find a way out of the woods with her younger sister. They both made it home safe and sound. This is why this book is exciting and funny because you never know what Sheila will do next.

Wow!That was amazing.Sheila just did a bike ride with her eyes closed and no hands.Man, she's brave.I can't even ride with my eyes closed. I like this book a lot. You've got to get this book. It is soooo cool!!!

I just used this book in my first grade class and they loved it! I haven't kept all 28 of them this involved in the same book in a long time. Thanks Kevin Henkes.

Sort of sad but touching. It is about a kid named spoon, his sister, mom and dad and grandpa. Spoon wants to find something of his grandmother who had died a couple of months ago. Read this book if you want to find out what Spoon finds of his grandmother's.

Kevin Henke did again. He made another one of his spectacular books. Sun and Spoon is a great book for children. It teaches kids honesty, friendship, and family. It talks about a boy who hardly knew a thing about his grandma. Then when he wanted to know a little about her it was to late, she had died. This taught me that I should spend time with older people in my family, especially my great aunt and uncle. That's why I go to their house every other week. This book had a big impact on me and it might do the same to you

I thought this book was a very good book. Tha main character is Spoon Gilmore. If you like plays you will like this book. This book is broken up into parts. This is what the book is about. It was only two months since Spoon'sgrandmother died. He thought he would need something to remind him of her. Spoon's little sister Joanie won't stop tagging along and pestering him even when they go into their grandmother's house. I hope you read this book and like it as much as I did.

Wemberly Worried is the epic tale of Wemberly and her doll Petal. The adventure begins with our hero, Wemberly the mouse, and her array of pre-school worries. Wemberly worries about everything and anything despite her parents and grandmother's best efforts. The climax of the story is her first day of school her greatest worry yet. It concludes with her revalation when she meets her soulmate in Jewel and her partner in crime, Nibblet. Henkes' use of colors and humor in the illustrations make it a must have for any child. His use of font size emphasizes the magnittude of the worry. The story teaches a life lesson, that there is a friend out there for every child no matter how worried or different they are. This book is espically good if your child is a worrier and a mouse, yet, is still a great story for those human children out there. Henkes' use of dialoge outside of the story help the story devolope into the timeless classic Wemberly Worried. The most interesting is Wemberly's laid back roller blade wearing Grandmother who is known for her shirt with 'Go with the flow' written on the front. We look forward to Henkes' next ingenius work.

The book Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes is a good book for the early developing reader or for story-telling to your young child with anxiety about school. The book focuses on a little mouse girl who, as the title states,
worries about everything. She worries about the jungle gym at the park, her rabbit doll, and many other everyday occurrences. Henkes uses very colorful and descriptive pictures so as to help out young readers make a correlation between the words and their meanings. Henkes also uses repetition to hold the young readers attention and to emphasize the fact that Wemberly worries about
everything. The book gives children a good view of school and makes them excited to attend school, have fun, and make new friends. This book is good for the parents who may be worried that their kids will not like school or for kids
who have already expressed their fears of leaving their parents for school. However, the book is not suited for kids that have already experienced school and have realized that it is not very scary and that they like it. All in all, Wemberly Worried is an excellent book to buy to ease your child's anxiety about school or other things they may worry about.

As a librarian in training I have come across many books dealing with this subject of going to school. When I came across this book, I knew it would be perfect for children getting ready to make that big step into a classroom. Children may be excited about going to school, but they will worry about what everyone else is doing and whether or not they are going to fit in. Wemberly looks like a normal little (mouse) girl and we can see she will fit in fine at school. But she worries about everything -- until she gets there. Children will see that there is nothing to worry about and that as bad as they think things will be, everyone's a little nervous on the first day of school.

Kevin Kenkes has done a wonderful job with this book -- as always.

Alexandra Y.3/12/03
Reading Response #20
Words of Stone By Kevin Henkes

Words of Stone, by Kevin Henkes is an okay book. It isn't outstanding, great, or fantastic. Nor does it have a suspenseful or intriguing plot. This book is about a boy named Blaze and girl named Joselle, who both have a hectic life. Blaze's mother, Renna died of cancer. Ever since, he has been keeping imaginary friends, all who disappear every July. Then he digs a hole and places a stone over them on the hill - the words of stone. Then comes along Joselle. Joselle, whose mother is taking a vacation from her, writes a devastating message on the hill. Blaze doesn't know what to think. Is this a cruel game? It seems as if it is when Joselle becomes Blaze's friend. However, Blaze does not know that Joselle was responsible for the words of stone. How will this affect their friendship?
One reason why I did not like this book was because of the characters. Usually I enjoy books with characters that I can relate to. This way, I get a better sense of what they are experiencing. In addition to this, I become connected to the book. If we are so similar, I begin to wonder if this could happen to me. However, in Words of Stone, the characters are very unrealistic. An example of this is Joselle. Joselle draws on her teeth and writes names on her leg. These characters are so farfetched till the point I cannot connect to their lives at all. Because of this, I do not enjoy this book. In addition to this, I do not like the fact that there is not an interesting and mind-twisting plot.
I think that Words of Stone has a dull, boring, and unattractive plot. This book did not have something exciting constantly happening. I love books with action on every page. An example of a book like this is A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle and the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. These books made me want to read more. However, I did not want to read further of Words of Stone. I think this is because many questions did not arise. For example, I did not wonder what was going to occur in the next few chapters. Nor did I think about how Blaze and Joselle's friendship was going to affect their lives. However, if the author made the events seem dramatic and thrilling, I would have been extremely curious. I would want to read more.
In conclusion, I did not enjoy reading Words of Stone. I did not enjoy reading about the characters. In addition to this, I disliked the plot. As you have probably assumed, I think this book is so-so. I do not recommend Words of Stone.

This was a great book. It was thoughtful, intriguing, and a bit sad. My 9 year old son read it for his 4th grade class, and I was fascinated myself. My son said that learning about these two characters (Blaze and Joselle) teaches you a lot about friendship.

This book was about a shy, fearful boy named Blaze. Ever since his mother died and he got burned in a small carnival fire, Blaze was never the same. Soon, disturbing messages written in stone appeared in his yard. They were about his mom and the fire. But he unknowingly made friends with the perpetrator, Joselle, who might as well be motherless herself. Will they ever reconcile after Blaze discovers Joselle's horrid secret? Check it out. The language is beautiful, and I could identify with Blaze because I'm quiet and fearful myself. Go get it right now!

Protecting Marie
By: Kevin Henkes
Reviewed by: Catherine Li
Period: 6

This book talks about the life of a 12-year-old girl whose name is Fanny. Her farther is an artist and is very hard to live with. His business is not going too well and he gets upset easily, particularly when he is not satisfied with his work. Fanny has always loved dogs, one night when her dad was not able to show up for his 60-year-old birthday party he brought back a Labrador puppy. However, her dad needs concentration for his work, and when the puppy began breaking things and fooling around at the house, he sent the puppy away to someone. Fanny is heart broken and misdirected her anger, frustration, and emotional outrage. One night Fanny's father comes home with another dog named Dinner. But Fanny is afraid, she worries that Dinner would ruin her dad's concentration, and he would send her away too. Soon, her father began using Dinner as the main model in his painting. Fanny understood then, that her father would never send anything away that she loves.
I found this book touching in some ways. This book is very straightforward and easy to understand. It isn't a very exciting book, but it has good writings and is a worthy book to read. Though, I think the title doesn't exactly match the meaning of the story. For instance, "Her mouth was a pouty circle, and short, slitty lines served as eyes and eyelashes."
The sentences are short and simple to read. This book isn't very descriptive nor complex. The sentences are also short, but it makes perfect sense. "The petals were so dark they looked black at the innermost whorl." It is in a very good writing, especially in a drama type of book.
I enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't the story that interested me, but the moral of this story. Even though the story doesn't completely mean the same meaning as the title, there was a important lesson about this doll (Marie) Fanny owned. The moral of this story is not to show emotional outrage to anyone in your family. Fanny never trusted her father, and she hid her belongings away from him. I recommend this book to everyone.

Not being a big fan of "dog stories," I picked this book up from the library only because I admire Kevin Henkes' writing. I didn't even open it until the evening before it was due. As it turned out, I was hooked from the first paragraph and stayed up until midnight to read the whole thing. I was surprised how thoroughly the book brought me into into this 12-year-old girl's head and life, and how stirringly it depicted Fanny's strained relationship with her father. Every detail seemed perfect. The dogs in the story are terribly important to Fanny, and are important measures of her relationship with her father, but the problems in the relationship go deeper than that, and the new dog isn't a cure-all for the problems. I expected a simple story about a girl wanting a dog, but this book delivered much more. I had to return the book to the library, but I plan to buy a copy to keep.

I bought this book in the fourth grade. It sat on my bookshelf for four months until I read it over Christmas break.
Oh. My. God.
Most phenomenal book I have ever read. I just love it. It is so poignant, so heartbreakingly honest that is so lovely. I adore Henkes' style. You must read it. It is my favorite book in the world.