Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Mouse Books

by Kevin Henkes

Lilly loves everything about school, especially her cool teacher, Mr. Slinger. But when Lilly brings her purple plastic purse and its treasures to school and can't wait until sharing time, Mr. Slinger confiscates her prized possessions. Lilly's fury leads to revenge and then to remorse and she sets out to make amends.

Lilly, the star of Chester's Way and Julius, the Baby of the World, is back. And this time she has her name in the title - something she's wanted all along. If you thought Lilly was funny before, you are in for a treat. So hurry up and start reading. Lilly can't wait for you to find out more about her.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, School, Animals, Fantasy, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Kevin Henkes is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards.

Reviews

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming from start to finish!! And I’ll confess, my mister (who happens to be an intervention specialist and loves this book as a lesson in regret and forgiveness) says it reminded him of first-grade me... yeah, the shoes and glittery glasses were the tip off!

(Reviewed 3/10/21)

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Kevin Henkes’ books ever since I was small, so it was a great day for me in discovering an old favorite of mine when I was small. “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is a children’s book by Kevin Henkes that details the relationship that Lilly has with her teacher Mr. Slinger and how one event almost causes a huge rift between them. “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is a truly beautiful book about having a great relationship with your teachers that everyone will love for many years!

Lilly loved going to school and she especially loved her teacher Mr. Slinger who was quite an extraordinary teacher. Lilly always wanted to be a teacher because of him and she always drew pictures of him. One day however, Lilly got a new purple plastic purse and movie star glasses and she wanted to show them to the class, but Mr. Slinger kept telling Lilly that she should wait until sharing time to share her purse. But Lilly would not wait and Mr. Slinger ended up taking her purse and her movie star glasses away. Lilly was so upset about this that she drew a cruel picture of Mr. Slinger and put it in his book bag.
Will Mr. Slinger find the drawing and will Lilly live with what she has done?

Oh my goodness! This is just as amazing as I remembered it! Kevin Henkes has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book about the importance of good behavior and relationships with teachers. I loved the way that Kevin Henkes portrayed both Lilly and Mr. Slinger’s relationship with each other in a positive way as they clearly care about each other and I loved seeing Lilly’s enthusiasm in wanting to be a teacher based on her love of Mr. Slinger which is a truly inspirational moment of the book as Lilly truly wants to further express herself because of Mr. Slinger. I also loved Mr. Slinger himself as he is clearly a good natured teacher who was only doing his job and I also loved the way that he was still kind towards Lilly after the plastic purple purse incident and this is a really good example of how teachers should treat students who are often upset at getting into trouble for the first time. Kevin Henkes’ illustrations are extremely cute as the main characters are portrayed as mice which makes the illustrations look creative and the images that I loved seeing the most was of Lilly in her red and white starred boots and her creative outfits as she is clearly a very intuitive character.

Overall, “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” is a truly memorable book for children who love their teachers and who are fans of Kevin Henkes’ works. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Kevin Henkes can do no wrong and this story is one of his best.
Lilly is a child you know and her story is hilarious and poignant; the illustrations offer much to enjoy for both the parent and child reading this story.
Brilliant. - Paula C.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few tons of thanks to Goodreads friend Kathryn who recommended this book to me because I doubt I’d have read it if not for her recommendation. I’d seen this book, but its title did not seem at all appealing to me; I didn’t know what it was about but what my imagination conjured up was so far off the mark.

This is a wonderful story about Lilly (I haven’t yet read the earlier two books in which she’s featured) who loves her teacher so much she wants to be a teacher too, until she has a very difficult day.

I loved this story. It reminded me of just how important those precious things are (such as the purple plastic purse and its contents) and children will surely identify with Lilly. I appreciated that a really wonderful teacher is featured: one who is truly caring and fair, but is able to set limits too.

Lilly is like so many little girls I’ve known and my memories of being in the very early grades in school were sparked by this book.

It’s a wonderful book to begin discussions about being considerate of others’ feelings, ways to handle strong feelings such as anger, sharing when appropriate, the importance of listening, and delayed gratification.

It’s also just hilarious. There are so many amusing parts. Perhaps my biggest laugh came when the contrite Lilly, back at home, “decided to sit in the uncooperative chair.”

The illustrations are wonderful and there’s a lot to look at as many of the illustrations are really detailed and some include words/text too.

From beginning to end, there’s not a false note in this story. It perfectly captures how enraptured young children are with their teachers, how marvelous certain possessions seem, the range of feelings we all have, and the limitless goals young children often have. It has a very happy ending, and it’s charming all the way through!

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lilly is an energetic and self-involved little elementary schooler. Usually, she worships her teacher, Mr. Slinger, since he shares some of her nonconformist attitudes, but one day they find themselves in conflict, and Lilly has a lot of conflicting feelings in a short period of time.

It's cute enough, and my daughter liked it more than I did when she was a toddler.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story about awareness for other's feelings. Lilly loves her teacher--he is funny and stylish and kind. Lilly wants to be a lot of things when she grows up, like a diva and a doctor, but right now she really, really wants to be a teacher because she is so inspired by her own. But one day, when she brings a purple plastic purse to school and just cannot wait until show-and-tell to show it off to everyone (even after her teacher asks her to please be patient and not disrupt the class), her teacher has to keep it for the rest of class. Suddenly, Lilly doesn't want to be a teacher anymore and she writes a mean story about her "purse thief" teacher. But, soon Lilly realizes that her teacher's kindness never left as he tried to teach her a lesson about respecting others. Can Lilly make it up to him!?

I absolutely love the heart and humor of this story--Lilly's emotions are just so spot-on and the illustrations are a marvelous part of telling the story. Highly recommended!

I'm also becoming a BIG Kevin Henkes fan, having also enjoyed Kitten's First Full Moon and Old Bear

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book; it covers great teachers who provide creative outlets for the kids and inspire them to want to teach.

It discusses the exuberance of a young girl (mouse) who gets a new toy and wants so desperately to share it with her classmates, but ends up being a disruption to the class.

And finally, best of all, it covers the sensitive topics of frustration, anger, regret and remorse in an easy to understand way.

Our girls enjoyed this story, but I loved it for the moralistic lesson it teaches in a non-preachy way.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best parts about reading books to kids is that I'm reading it as the person I've become, but looking at my kids, I remember the person I was. Really, it's as if two mes are reading.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse is about a little girl mouse who wants to grow up to be a teacher. She has an incredible and inspiring mouse teacher - Mr. Slinger.

She plays school at home, pretending to be him. She writes books in his honor, and all her works of art feature him.

Then one day she brings a purple plastic purse to school and she can't wait to show it around. Unfortunately, Slinger makes her wait... the jerk. Who the H*** does he think he is anyway. He just went to public enemy number one. You just wait till parent teacher conferences, buddy.

So, her stories and art take on a different tone...

Like I said, I've read this to my kids. It's fun to watch them, and discuss the book with them, and think back to my childhood. People talk about kids today, and their attention spans and what not... I'm pretty sure my attention span was pretty short as a kid.

But I'm also reading this as a teacher. I understand that fitting in and being cool are more important than Hammurabi's Code. And I really get my students. But sometimes, I'll have a kid like this... we click, and then he doesn't turn in his homework, I give him a zero and I'm just like every other teacher he's ever had. A jerk.

Yeah, that's what I like about kids stories, there's so much that we can relate to as adults as well...

Also, the authors often throw in little jokes for us as well. (A bunch of words on the board rhyming with mice... an arrow off to the side pointing to a kids hair with "lice" written by it.)

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darling book... my grand daughter adored it too. : ) Lilly LOVES her new purple plastic purse, and takes it to school for everyone to see. She soon learns that there is a time and place for everything, and not being able to wait as requested by teacher, she loses it. Oh my does she get mad! Now her once super cool teacher is the dirtiest rotten rat on earth! She feels remorse though when he gives it back later with treats inside and she learns forgiveness too.

[itselv]

Since I was young, my dream was to become a teacher, but I as I grew older, I realized I had to set it aside—possibly never picking it back up—because of the current circumstances and economy.
But my heart will never stop beating with love and longing when reading books like this one; ones about wonderful teachers and astonished students.

Maybe one day this dream will find its way to become reality, maybe not, for the time being I console myself with such delightful books.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites! Lilly is always a hit!

[Anastassia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic from my childhood that my children also regularly enjoy!

[Nik ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Rachel A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Today was difficult. Tomorrow will be better.

I absolutely loved Kevin Henkes books when I was younger, especially Chester's Way. I was looking around the library recently, and I found this book on the shelves. Although I thought I'd read all of Henkes' books, I couldn't remember this one at all so I decided to give it a try.

I thought it was an excellent, realistic children's story. The book is about Lilly, a young girl, who is very excited to show off her new purple purse at school. She becomes so overexcited, that she can't wait for the appropriate time and ends up disrupting the class and getting in trouble with her teacher. While Lilly previously adored her teacher, this incident makes her very angry with him and creates what may be one of the most realistic student-teacher interactions I've ever read in a children's book. The book was very well-written and beautifully illustrated, and I would highly recommend it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lesson in forgiveness.

Well, we read this again two years later and my son really got into the pictures, pointing things out. He loved it.

[Pamela Covington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of books to my children when they were young and this remains one of my and my daughter's favorites.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

#87 on Time Magazine 100 Best Children's books

Wow, that was all I really could say, wow! (stealing a line from the book). As I started to read this, I noticed the spelling of the main character's name has a total of 3 Ls, which is not the way I would intuitively spell it. Ah, well, when one is as feisty as Lilly one can spell her name any way she likes.

I don't believe I ever read this before, but I do remember the bang of publicity when Lilly first came to be.

[Gracie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"she was really nice and then she got mean when she got her bag and then she was nice again. If you get something and someone has to take it doesn’t mean they don’t love you."

[Kandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable and hilarious! A perfect gift for the classroom and especially the staff room ;)

[lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh lilly is a DIVA icb this is one of the few and only times i’ve felt represented in media! justice for the spelling lilly with three Ls!

[Paige Shafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

she is my inspiration

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia and I listened to this on audio last night and we both really enjoyed it. I haven't listened to many audio books for myself but Julia and I have listened to a handful together and besides John Lithgow in Micawber the narrator here is awesome.
Her voice inflections are perfect, the voices of other characters in the book are perfect. (I think Julia's really starting to love audio books because I suck at voices.)
I love the way she incorporated Lilly's (and the others) thoughts and even if you weren't following right along with the book in print (we were) you'd know just who was saying what and how.
There's plenty of room for discussion throughout. Everything from how a kid feel about school to how to act in school, from how to deal with a reprimand from a teacher to how to deal with disappointment.
The author did a fantastic job on the illustrations as well. I really liked that most, if not all, of the illustrations weren't large and loud and overly colorful. They were on a smaller scale, fun and colorful without being overdone, and they fit just perfectly.
I noticed one page in particular. In the part where Lilly looks into her purse on the way home from school and finds Mr. Slinger's note and gift Kevin Henkes used six block pictures.
The first two, adjacent at the top of the page, are the same size. The bottom four blocks are the same size but inside each block Lilly is just a little smaller... then smaller.... then smaller still.
Not so small that you have to look to find her, just small enough that the reader gets the idea that she feels> small. I think this is one of the few times - maybe even the first ever - where I've actually wanted to seek out more work by an illustrator. Since Henkes wrote and illustrated this I think I'll have an easy time of it.
Julia and I read Kitten's First Full Moon and Chrysanthemum awhile back and if I remember correctly we liked both. I think. I noticed there are other Lilly books like Lilly's Big Day so we'll order that and any others to see if they're just as good. Julia loves reading about characters she's already familiar with.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so much going for it - a feisty little protagonist, Lilly, a wise and compassionate teacher, Mr. Slinger, and parents who know what to do when their little girl comes home from school with a tale of woe. Lilly the white mouse loves everything about school, especially her teacher, Mr. Slinger who is so cool. One day Lilly comes to school with her new purple plastic purse that plays a jaunty tune and holds her movie-star sunglasses and three shiny new quarters. Lilly can't wait for show and tell, so she interrupts the class, prompting Mr. Slinger to put the purse in his desk for the remainder of the day. Lilly is crushed, then angry, then furious enough to draw a very unflattering picture of Mr. Slinger, an act she soon regrets. But Lilly's parents and Mr. Slinger all know little girls very well and soon Lilly is feeling better about herself and about Mr. Slinger. Heartwarming story and amusing illustrations. Sophie can expect to get this one for a birthday or for Christmas when she's a bit older.

[Kate Babbitt]

This book is about a little mouse who can't wait to show off her new purple plastic purse that plays a song when it is opened. She takes it out before sharing time and disturbs the class. Her teacher takes away her purse and she is devastated without it. This book has great pictures that are creative in creating mice the main characters and showing the series of expressions. I would use this book to go into a personal narrative that the students could create to tell a story on one of their favorite objects or prized possessions. They would play the role of showing off their object but also their reaction to it being taken away or losing it, showing it's importance to them.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilly is so true to life: charming, exuberant, flawed. This is exactly the type of drama kids experience at school and Henkes captures their feelings perfectly. There is a moment when Lilly realizes the error of her ways, and the illustration shows her getting smaller and smaller....every class I've read it to has so much to say about that feeling, and many other moments in the book. Perfect for teaching text to self connections...and lots of fun to boot.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this because it accurately depicts how a kid could get in trouble, and shows kids how to deal with difficult emotions like anger, first by showing them what NOT to do. I'd love to use this in my story time, but it is a group of 4's, and it would really be ideal for a slightly older group (k-2).

[elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this when it first came out, and I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to childrens' books at that point. Henkes' books are great fun for both adults and children, and the most fun as a one-on-one read-aloud.

[Carlee]

We all learn at some point the life lesson of forgiveness and this book does a great job of making it understandable to kids. Shows that at some point people we care about will disappoint us and it is how we handle the disappointment that really makes us a better person.

[babyhippoface · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Lilly and almost everything she does. (Unless she was a student in my classroom. Then I'd have to alternate between finding her incredibly charming and witty, and wanting to smack her.)

[Dest · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part is the note the teacher gives her: "Today was hard. Tomorrow will be better." Some days I really need a note like that.