Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious- Lilly is a delightful independent thinker
Review: I love Lilly- she was first introduced in "Chester's Way", and I was thrilled to see Kevin Henkes use the same characters for new stories. Lilly has an obvious crush on her new teacher, Mr. Sling, a free thinker who wears crazy colored shirts and ties and encourages the class to sit in a semi-circle instead of the standard, boring straight lines. Lilly likes him so much, she tells him that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. When Lilly brings her new purple plastic purse to school, she's itching to show it off, but Mr. Sling tells her (repeatedly) that she'll have to wait until later. Lilly ignores these instructions, and Mr. Sling takes her purse away for the day. Lilly is furious and draws a nasty picture of Mr. Sling, writing at the bottom, "I do NOT want to be a teacher!" She slipd this drawing into Mr. Slings book bag. Before leaving, Mr. Sling gives Lilly her purse back. Without so much as a word, Lilly grabs it and leaves. On the way home, however, Lilly opens her purse and finds a baggie of cheese snacks and a note for Mr. Sling that says, "Today was difficult. Tomorrow will be better." Lilly feels ten degrees of guilt and runs home to draw a new, nicer picture of Mr. Sling to give to him the next day. How does it end? Get the book to find out, you won't be disappointed. I love ALL of Kevin Henkes books, and so do my kids. The consistency in using the same characters for several books is great for kids, too.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I loved Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse as much as my 5 year old daughter. In fact, my mother and sister also loved it. Kevin Henkes has amazing insight into the mind of a child. We are anxiously awaiting more Lilly adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! That's just about all I can say. Wow!
Review: I read this book to my Eighth graders and they loved it ! I think I finally got their attention. They finally realized that teachers aren't mean, we just want directions followed . Wow ! That's just about all I can say. Wow!
Rating: 
Summary: I hate it!
Review: i would give this book no stars if I could. It shows the ambivalence of our culture's attitude toward limit setting with children, as well as our inability to deal with anger. I would not let a child of mine near this book, no matter how entertaining it is. Having the teacher give Lilly presents after setting a reasonable limit undermines the idea that adults NEED to set reasonable limits and need not apologize for them; it gives the message that adults should try to get children to like them at all costs. Having Lilly feel deep shame for expressing her anger in a perfectly appropriate non-violent way delegitamizes her angry feeling and her way of expressing them. I am appalled but not surprised by the book's popularity; I would hope adults would start to think about the message this book gives to both aults and children.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Kids -- Even Better for Teachers
Review: I'm both a mom and an educator. As a mom, I love this book because it has a funny story which my daughter can relate to. Henkes uses repetetive language enough that she can predict what comes next, but it's not boring or too predictable. The pictures are delightful and offer a little humor for the adult reading the book beyond what kids might be able to appreciate. That's nice if you're going to read the same book over and over!As an educator, I think this book carries an important message to teachers. It reminds us that what we do matters deeply to children, even when they are angry at us, and that discipline can happen fairly and with kindness. Every teacher should strive to be a "Mr. Slinger."
Rating:
Summary: A delight for all ages!
Review: I've heard that the best books, movies, etc, are those that appeal to all ages, and if this is true, then this book is THE BEST! At our library, I've seen a group of moms huddled around this book giggling while their children (not so) patiently awaited their turn to look! Pay close attention to all the illustrations; you don't want to miss a single word that Lilly has to say! She will become your friend so be ready to laugh and cry alongside her.
Rating:
Summary: Fashionista rodentia
Review: It is my understanding that "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" is the book that really launched Kevin Henkes from mere picture book drudgery to children's book stardom. Though he'd been churning out stories that spoke to kids and their qualms ("Owen", "Chrysanthemum", etc.) Lilly grabbed the world's spotlight and focused it squarely on her cute little shoulders. Though she'd already appeared in two previous Henkesian creations ("Chester's Way" and "Julius, the Baby of the World"), this was Lilly's first foray as a protagonist with her name in the title. As such, the book has been turned into a stage play, been read by millions of small children, and gives spunky kids someone they can identify with and look up to. In short, she's a pip.
Lilly is mightily pleased with her life at the moment. She loves school and she adores her teacher Mr. Slinger. Mr. Slinger (undoubtedly a relation of Miss Twinkle from "Chrysanthemum") is the coolest prof in the world. He wears crazy colored ties, refers to his students as "rodents", provides yummy tasty snacks, and has a penchant for patterned shirts. Lilly is determined to someday be a teacher all thanks to Mr. Slinger. Unfortunately, Lilly's Slinger-love takes a downturn when she brings her new purple plastic purse to class. Noisily displaying it at an inappropriate time, Slinger confiscates the item until the end of the day. In anger, Lilly draws a mean portrait of her teacher and hides it in his book bag. But when the young girl opens her returned purse outside of school, she finds a note reading, "Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better", and some yummy snacks are included. Suddenly wracked with guilt, Lilly decides to make up with her teacher and by the end the two have reconciled joyfully.
Now I was lucky enough to see the Minneapolis Children Theater's production of this particular book (combined with some of Lilly's other adventures to pad it out). And though I'm not a weepy gal by nature, I found myself tearing up during the reading of Mr. Slinger's note to Lilly (i.e. "Tomorrow will be better") as well as when I read the picture book. I don't tear up during children's stage productions and I CERTAINLY don't tear up when reading picture books. Yet here I was, all of 26 years of age, and bawling over the succinct sweetness of Slinger's comforting note. How many books have done this for you recently? How many picture books?
The tale is filled to the brim with the Henkes touches a person expects from his work (be sure to notice the Krazy Kat reference in Lilly's dining room). As per usual there is the comfortable family containing loving parents. And best of all, that wonderful way Henkes has of bringing a happy child to life on the page. No adult reading this book would want to be anyone BUT Mr. Slinger and no child reading it wouldn't want to know him. As for Lilly, she walks the fine line between precocious and precious. And wins. If you're a Henkes fan you won't want to miss this delightful star-making turn. If you're not a Henkes fan, do what you can to cure yourself of this ailment and then immediately read and enjoy this book. It's worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Fashionista rodentia
Review: It is my understanding that "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" is the book that really launched Kevin Henkes from mere picture book drudgery to children's book stardom. Certainly he'd been churning out stories that spoke to kids and their qualms ("Owen", "Chrysanthemum", etc.) Lilly grabbed the world's spotlight and focused it squarely on her cute little shoulders. Though she'd already appeared in two previous Henkesian creations ("Chester's Way" and "Julius, the Baby of the World"), this was Lilly's first foray as a protagonist with her name in the title. As such, the book has been turned into a stage play, been read by millions of small children, and gives spunky kids someone they can identify with and look up to. In short, she's a pip.
Lilly is mightily pleased with her life at the moment. She loves school and she adores her teacher Mr. Slinger. Mr. Slinger (undoubtedly a relation of Miss Twinkle from "Chrysanthemum") is the coolest prof in the world. He wears crazy colored ties, refers to his students as "rodents", provides yummy tasty snacks, and has a penchant for patterned shirts. Lilly is determined to someday be a teacher all thanks to Mr. Slinger. Unfortunately, Lilly's Slinger-love takes a downturn when she brings her new purple plastic purse to class. Noisily displaying it at an inappropriate time, Slinger confiscates the item until the end of the day. In anger, Lilly draws a mean portrait of her teacher and hides it in his book bag. But when the young girl opens her returned purse outside of school, she finds a note reading, "Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better", and some yummy snacks are included. Suddenly wracked with guilt, Lilly decides to make up with her teacher and by the end the two have reconciled joyfully.
Now I was lucky enough to see the Minneapolis Children Theater's production of this particular book (combined with some of Lilly's other adventures to pad it out). And though I'm not a weepy gal by nature, I found myself tearing up during the reading of Mr. Slinger's note to Lilly (i.e. "Tomorrow will be better") as well as when I read the picture book. I don't tear up during children's stage productions and I CERTAINLY don't tear up when reading picture books. Yet here I was, all of 26 years of age, and bawling over the succinct sweetness of Slinger's comforting note. How many books have done this for you recently? How many picture books?
The tale is filled to the brim with the Henkes touches a person expects from his work (be sure to notice the Krazy Kat reference in Lilly's dining room). As per usual there is the comfortable family containing loving parents. And best of all, that wonderful way Henkes has of bringing a happy child to life on the page. No adult reading this book would want to be anyone BUT Mr. Slinger and no child reading it wouldn't want to know him. As for Lilly, she walks the fine line between precocious and precious. And wins. If you're a Henkes fan you won't want to miss this delightful star-making turn. If you're not a Henkes fan, do what you can to cure yourself of this ailment and then immediately read and enjoy this book. It's worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Kevin Henkes does it again! This is truly a story children can relate to. My students loved it. They wore the book out!
Rating: 
Summary: Kevin's Best
Review: Kevin Henkes has created quite the world with these cute little mice -- and here is where the novel idea really took off. Lilly is quite the classic and really established Kevin as a force in children's book.
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