Book # 11 - Lilly's Big Day

"One day Lilly's teacher, Mr. Slinger, announced to the class that he was going to marry Ms. Shotwell, the school nurse."

Title: Lilly's Big Day

Author: Kevin Henkes

Illustrator: Kevin Henkes

Publisher: Greenwillow

Date of Publication: 2006

Genre: Fiction

Readability Lexile: 660L

Summary:

Lilly’s favorite teacher, Mr. Slinger is getting married and Lilly is convinced she is the flower girl in his wedding. She practices and practices for the big day until she finds out that Mr. Slinger’s niece will be the flower girl. To make Lilly feel better Mr. Slinger lets Lilly be the assistant to the flower girl but that is not enough for Lilly. This book would most interest kindergarten through second grade students. The grade level equivalent for this book is 3.6.

Evaluation:

This is a great continuation of the life of Lilly the mouse. If readers liked Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, they will love Lilly's Big Day. Again, like so many of Henkes' books this story is very relatable for all children. Lilly learns that she can't always get her way but that she can still be helpful which is something that every child goes through in life. Lilly's personality is one of a kind and definitely matches her actions in the story and what we know about Lilly from other stories. Lilly grows and becomes a more mature little mouse by the end of this story. She realizes that she can still have a fun time even if she everything doesn't follow her set plan. Lilly and the other mice from this story fit in well with the setting; home, school, and Mr. Slinger's wedding.The language in this book is appropriate for the character portrayed and it does not use any offensive language.

Literary Elements: 

1. Theme: the theme is this story is very important. By reading this book to children you are showing them that one does not always get their way and that when they don't get their way, things can still turn out great. Lilly learns a lot during this story about being helpful, caring for others, and stepping in when someone needs her. 

2. Characterization: Lilly is quite a unique little mouse and so it takes a lot to develop her as a main character.The author does this by including her personal writing and illustrations, and by adding side comments in his illustrations of Lilly.
3. Irony: In this story, you expect that Lilly will be the flower girl's assistant and then that's it but instead, she still gets to walk down the aisle only this time she is carrying the flower girl. It is a twist in the ending that I think many young readers would not suspect.

Illustrations: 

The pictures in this book are very similar to those in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. They show Lilly's feelings really well and help to tell the story by furthering explaining the text. They add so much to this book, are colorful, and show Lilly's unique personality. 

Mini-Lesson Idea:

I would use this book to teach the addition of emotion to one's characters while writing. The author does a great job of creating characters that wear their emotions right on their sleeves. While reading you can see the illustrations and the words used and know exactly how the character is feeling. I would have students talk about emotions in class and record all of the emotions that Lilly has in this story and then explain how the author tells or shows that Lilly is feeling that way. They then would go on to create their own story.