Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Kevin Henkes
HarperCollins

Lilly loves school. She loves the squeaky chalk, the pointy pencils, her own private desk, the fish sticks, and most of all, her teacher, Mr. Slinger. He is a very cool teacher: he wears artistic shirts, a different colored tie for each day of the week, thinks desks in rows are boring, and provides tasty snacks for the class. Lilly loves to help Mr. Slinger and wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

One day, however, the unthinkable happens. Lilly brings her new purple plastic purse, her new movie star sunglasses, and three shiny quarters for show and tell but she is so distracted by them, that Mr. Slinger takes them from her for the entire school day. Lilly is so angry and hurt that she writes a nasty note and leaves it for Mr. Slinger to read at the end of the day. Already feeling badly before she reaches her home, she discusses the situation with her parents and they decide she should write an apology and bring in some tasty snacks for the class. Lilly does this and order is restored to her universe except for one small adjustment. She still does want to be a teacher except, that is, when she doesn’t want to be a dancer or a surgeon or an ambulance driver or a diva or a pilot or a hairdresser or a scuba diver…

Henkes is a master at conveying, through his illustrations and the text, the range of extreme and intensely experienced emotions of young children. The reader appreciates, understands, and empathizes with the intensity of Lilly’s feelings.