I'm drawn to Kevin Henkes' cute little animal characters, especially the mice! Chrysanthemum is my favorite but Lilly comes in close second. I have had this picture book for a year or two in my classroom library; sometimes I purchase value sets from Scholastic book orders so I probably got this one along with a few other of Kevin Henkes' books but I just haven't gotten to it yet. Most of his stories cover social issues that are very meaningful to my young students and the book, Owen is a story that many young kindergarteners especially can relate to. This picture book won a Caldecott Honor in 1993.
Owen, a young little mouse is the protagonist, he's the main character and the audience feels for him against his battle of giving up his blanket. The neighbor, Mrs. Tweezers tries to convince Owen's parents that he is too old to carry the blanket everywhere. Owen's parents agree that since he is starting school soon that he can no longer keep "Fuzzy" with him, and he especially can't take it to school. His parents try the blanket fairy idea by having Owen leave the blanket under his pillow to be replaced by a big boy toy but that doesn't work. Mrs. Tweezers also suggests dipping the corner of the blanket in vinegar and then just saying "NO" but Owen just gets very upset. You could possibly say that Mrs. Tweezers and his parents are antagonists but the true antagonist of the story is the idea of Owen growing up and no longer being able to carry around his blanket. Finally at the end of the story his parents resolve Owen's issue with letting go of the blanket by cutting the blanket into handkerchiefs that he can still take with him wherever he goes.
Kevin Henkes is also the illustrator. He uses cute drawing and bright color paintings on each page. On several pages he has broken up and separated different pictures into boxes to show the different actions of Owen and his blanket. The pictures of Owen and his blanket truly depict what children look like with their prized possessions or "comfort items". I would use this picture book in pre-school, kindergarten, or first grade. The beginning of the year in pre-school and kindergarten is especially hard on some students, especially some of mine who have special needs. Owen, can serve as a great social learning experience for all young students, especially those having trouble moving on to school. Every August and at times throughout the school year we are constantly battling the kindergarteners who bring their "comfort items" to school, but really they just become a distraction. Usually we get stuffed animals and blankets but this year we had a first, one of my students brought his live kitten in his backpack! Discussions following the reading of this book can help students understand why they can no longer do some of the things they did when they were younger, but promote all of the new exciting activities they can participate in as they grow up! Questions like, "Do you still have something from when you were a baby that you still have?", "Why is it special to you?", "How can you keep this item special to you while growing up at the same time?"
There is also a great resource online for teachers, librarians, and parents. Kevin Henkes' own website:
http://www.kevinhenkes.com/
At his site you can learn about the author/illustrator, read FAQ from children, download activities for some of his books, find other books by Henkes, and my favorite, find recipes that correspond to some of his stories! From his site I found a few other of Henkes' books that I plan to check out from the library!
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