Book Being Reviewed:
Henekes, K. (1996). Lilly's purple plastic purse. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Reviewer:
Hannah Myung

Genre:
Fiction; Children 6-11 years old

Subject Headings:
Elementary school

Review:
This book is about a mouse that loves everything about school, especially, her teacher Mr. Slinger. Until one morning, Mr. Slinger takes away Lilly’s new purse because she becomes disruptive during reading time. Lilly becomes so furious and wants to get revenge on Mr. Slinger for taking away her purse. She decides to draw a mean picture of him and places it in his bag. When Lilly gets her purse back at the end of the day, she finds snacks and a letter from Mr. Slinger at the bottom of her purse. Lilly feels awful for what she has done to her teacher. In the end, Lilly decides to draw a new picture of Mr. Slinger and write an apology letter to him. Counselors should read the journal article, "Piaget, Meet Lilly: Understanding Child Development through Picture Book Characters” (Hansen & Zambo, 2005).

This article is about using children’s books to understand children’s physical, cognitive, and socio emotional development. With the book about Lilly, the article discusses how the reader can gain a better understanding of Piaget’s preoperational stage of development: Lilly displays egocentric thinking when she only thinks about her needs and fails to see Mr. Slinger’s perspective. Lilly also shows imaginative play when she acts like a scuba diver, surgeon, and pilot at the end of the story. Furthermore, this book can be used for bibliotherapy when counselors are working with children. Activities and discussion during session can be centered on self-discipline, self-control, being considerate to others, forgiveness, and communication skills.

Originally posted on 1/6/2010 at csi-net.org