Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (1996)

I am so impressed by this book that I've given it as a gift to other people's children, as well as my own. I think it's a must-read for preschoolers and their parents, because it teaches lessons like how to deal with disappointment, anger, and sadness, and it does it in a humorous, non-threatening way.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so I'll just summarize. Lilly is a precocious little mouse who looks at the world in a slightly different manner than most of her peers. She is presented with a special gift that she can't wait to take to school and show off. Once at school, however, she finds it a little difficult to control herself, and she is reprimanded by her much-beloved teacher. She feels betrayed and angry. When she goes home and talks to her parents about the day she had, they help her cope with her bad feelings. Then she must deal with guiltiness over something she did to retaliate against her teacher.

This book is wonderful because it captures the ambivalence that all children experience sometimes. It also gives solutions to help deal with negative feelings. I think children can relate to Lilly. This book is very funny and it doesn't talk down to kids or minimize the issues they go through at school and at home.

Kevin Henkes has written several other equally good stories. I highly recommend his books because he has a lot of insight into the emotions of children.