Back to School Books by Kevin Henkes

Are you searching for the perfect back-to-school read-alouds? Look no further than the works of Kevin Henkes—one of my all-time favorite children’s authors! Not only does he write with heart and humor, but he also illustrates his own books, bringing each story to life with charming, expressive characters.

Kevin Henkes is a Caldecott Medal winner and Newbery Honor recipient, and it’s easy to see why. His stories often feature animal characters with very human emotions and experiences—something that young children deeply relate to. From navigating the first day of school to adjusting to a new sibling or coping with the loss of a grandparent, Henkes’ books tackle big feelings in a way that feels safe, gentle, and honest.

Two of his books stand out as must-reads for back-to-school season: Chrysanthemum and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Both are beloved classics in primary classrooms and are ideal for launching conversations about friendship, feelings, and building a strong classroom community.

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, a school librarian, or a parent getting ready for the new school year, you’ll want to have these titles on your shelf!

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum is written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. It is the story of a sweet young mouse who thinks her name is absolutely perfect...that is, until she heads to her first day of school. The other children in her class tease her and make fun of her name all day long. Luckily, Chrysanthemum meets one of her wonderful teachers-who has just as unique of a name as her.

This is a perfect break-the-ice book for the first week of school. It gets children thinking about and bonding with their own names and the names of everyone else in the class, and it’s the perfect vehicle for starting a discussion about treating classmates with tolerance, kindness, and compassion.

If used with preschool and kindergarten students, there are tons of follow-up name activities that you can do with this Kevin Henkes book if your students are working on writing or spelling their name. 

In addition, you can use this Chrysanthemum Book Companion Pack for many more ideas with K-2 students. This pack has EVERYTHING you need to make your life easier and have the first month of school planned using the story, Chrysanthemum in your ELA block:

• Set of 24 comprehension questions for the book Chrysanthemum, recording sheet, answer sheet and game board to use with the questions (comes in color and b/w)
• I Have, Who Has game. Cards have a picture of something typically found in a classroom (comes in color and b/w)
• Find Someone Who worksheet with words and images to make it easier for younger students. Use this as an icebreaker on the first day of school!
• Friendship Venn Diagram
• Wanted poster (for students to write/draw about what they want in a friend)
• Friendship acrostic poem template
• My New Friend worksheet (Have students work on this in groups of 2. Students write their names on the Polaroid picture and draw a picture of themselves and then fill-out the bottom questions.) 1st graders especially love this activity!
• My Special Name worksheet
• Text-to-self connection
• Wanted: Friend worksheet
• Graphing student names activity

Kindness and friendship are great themes to have at the beginning of the school year as you are encouraging students to make new friends and working on procedures with them. 

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse

In addition to Chrysanthemum, my other top Kevin Henkes book is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Lilly loves school, dressing up and her baby brother. She really just loves everything! Lilly considers herself a Queen and one day brings her purple plastic purse to school and cannot wait until sharing time to show it off (along with her movie star sunglasses). Her favorite teacher, Mr. Slinger takes away her prized possessions. Lilly is so mad that she draws a very mean picture of her favorite teacher. He returns her unkindness with a nice note and snacks and it’s not until then that Lilly realizes that she owes Mr. Slinger an apology. 

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse is great to read to primary students to show them expectations for the school year, what happens when you break them and how kindness can go a long way. Plus, I love the simple message it sends of how much teachers always care for their students- even when those students aren’t acting the nicest.

Grab the Companion Pack to go with it and you are all set on activities for your students. They’ll love these Kevin Henkes book activities!

Here is what’s included with the Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse Companion Pack:

• Set of 24 reading comprehension questions, game board, and recording sheet (comes in color and b/w)
• Author’s purpose worksheet 
• 2 writing worksheets (text-to-self connections)
• Character worksheet
• Story sequencing booklet (students cut out the pages, put them in order and then staple together)
• Writing a friendly letter (planning page, review of the parts of a friendly letter, worksheet to write a letter to Mr. Slinger)
• Coin identification cut and paste
• Write around the room cards and a recording sheet
• Icebreaker game. Students play the game with 2-4 players. Players take turns answering the questions and move around the game board. (comes in color and b/w)

Tell me-What is your favorite book written by Kevin Henkes and will you be reading it at back to school time?