Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Name: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
Author: Kevin Henkes

A story that explores patience and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →

♥ This book teaches: Patience. staying calm while something unfolds.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: Patience means having self-control, waiting and enduring when one would rather not. In short: Stay calm while you wait. Summary: Lilly loves her teacher, Mr. Slinger, but that all changes one day when she gets distracted at school by her new purple plastic purse. In spite of Mr. Slinger’s admonitions, Lilly continues to cause trouble in her class because of her infatuation with her purse. When Mr. Slinger takes the purse away from her during class, Lilly gets upset and writes a nasty letter condemning her teacher. She is moved to apologize when she receives a nice note and some candy from Mr. Slinger. With her teacher’s help, she carries out a plan to make up for her mistake. Lesson Objectives:

Teachers guide students in a discussion about why discipline is necessary when someone’s behavior is disruptive - what happens when there are no consequences?
Teachers and students discuss ways to apologize and make up for wrongdoing using real examples.

Guiding Questions:

What did Lilly like the best about school and why?
What changed her mind?
Describe some of the things Lilly did at school that shows she had a hard time with self-control.
Do you think Mr. Slinger should have taken the purse away from Lilly?
Mr. Slinger helps Lilly feel better at the end of the difficult school day. Share about how he did that.
Why did Lilly decide to apologize and how did she do that?
How do you think Lilly felt when she was forgiven for her bad behavior?
Have you ever done something wrong and regretted it? Did you do anything to make up for your mistake?
Do you think everyone makes mistakes at least some of the time? Please explain.
Is it hard to apologize when we do something wrong? Why or why not?

🌿 Virtue Connection: Patience means waiting without losing yourself.

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.