Lilly's Big Day (3-10-13)

Henkes, K. (2006). Lilly’s big day. New York: Greenwillow Books. 

Genre: Picture Book- Fiction

Age: 4 and up

Summary: Lilly, a young little mouse, is elated to hear about the upcoming wedding for her teacher, Mr. Slinger to the school nurse, Ms. Shotwell. Although it will be a big day for her teacher, Lilly hopes it will be a big day for, too. She wants to be the flower girl! Mr. Slinger plans for his niece to be the flower girl, while Lilly has plans to convince him otherwise. Mr. Slinger gives Lilly a big job, as the flower girl assistant, and she has her moment of fame at the wedding.

Reflection: From the purple-spined hardcover to the pink, green, and yellow balloons on the cover, this book has GIRL written all over it. The author and illustrator, Kevin Henkes, uses beautiful watercolor paints with a hefty portion of pinks and purples, to attract young, girly readers to this fun story! This story has a progressive plot with a focus on a little mouse girl’s emotions as she sets her sights on a dream, gets disappointed, and then makes the best of her new situation. There is a bit of repetition in the text as Lilly practices her flower girl moves and later teaches them to Ginger, Mr. Slinger’s niece. With the story revolving around flowers, weddings, pink and purple, there are not many draws for a male audience. Most of the illustrations are framed, so they do not take over the whole page. This is true until the pages in which Lilly is practicing her best flower girl moves.

The composition compliments the text, because these particular pictures seem to dance around the page, much like the magical movements of the flower girl she is practicing to be.  I would recommend this book to young readers and elementary school teachers, because the story shows how students can reach for their dreams, but sometimes can be presented with situations and opportunities to change your plans and make the best of it.