1. Today we're reading Penny and Her Marble
pronounced HENK-us
We'll read all the books and vote in the spring on our favorite book! 1

2. Meet Kevin Henkes
pronounced HENK-us 2

3. Kevin Henkes
Here is Wisconsin.
Kevin Henkes was born on November He grew up in Wisconsin, where he still lives today.

4. Kevin Henkes
He liked to draw, read and reread books when he was young.
"I remember drawing at a very young age. I loved it.  My parents and teachers told me I was good at it - and that made me love it all the more."  
Kevin Henkes still owns some of his favorite books from childhood. "They're brimming with all the telltale signs of true love: dog-eared pages, fingerprints on my favorite illustrations, my name and address inscribed on both front and back covers in inch-high lettering, and the faint smell of stale peanut butter on the bindings." 4

5. Kevin Henkes
As a child, Kevin went to the public library every two weeks.
He still owns some of his childhood books!
Some of his favorite books as a child were…
Rain Makes Applesauce is a former Chets Creek Book-of-the-month. Mrs. Phillips chose that as a book-of-the-month because it was one of her favorite books when she was a child. She checked it out of the library so often that when the book got too old to check out, the librarian gave it to Mrs. Phillips. 5

6. Kevin Henkes
Henkes was the fourth of five children. For six years he was the baby of the family. No, he didn't torment his youngest sibling as Lilly does Julius, but he says he clearly remembers feeling jealous of the new baby.

7. Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes published his first book when he was only 19 years old! He has published over 30 books!

8. Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes is married to Laura, a painter, and they have two children, Will and Clara.
"He reads to them each day
at breakfast and at
bedtime … “ He and his wife
read three books to each child
every night one-on-one.

9. Kevin Henkes
As an adult Kevin Henkes reads every night before he goes to bed.

10. Kevin Henkes
Henkes' fondness for mice as characters doesn't stem from personal experience. He has never had a pet mouse, only uninvited house mice!

11. Look at his mouse characters. Can you tell how they are feeling?
Kevin Henkes
Look at his mouse characters. Can you tell how they are feeling?

12. Kevin Henkes Kevin Henkes has drawn many mice as characters.
Sometimes, he uses the mice’s tails
to show how they feel.

13. Look at the tail on Owen’s mom.
Kevin Henkes
Look at the tail on Owen’s mom.
She has a good idea.

14. She knows she made a mistake.
Kevin Henkes
Look at Lilly’s tail.
She knows she made a mistake.

15. How do you think Chrysanthemum is feeling?
Kevin Henkes
This picture shows how surprised Chrysanthemum felt when Mrs. Twinkle tells the class she is considering naming her baby Chrysanthemum!
“She blushed.
She beamed.
She bloomed.”
How do you think Chrysanthemum is feeling?
How can you tell? 15

16. written for older children.
Kevin Henkes
Caldecott Honor Medal Owen, 1994
Newbery Honor Medal
Olive’s Ocean, 2003
written for older children.
Caldecott Medal for his picture book Kitten’s First Full Moon, 2005

17. Kevin Henkes
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse is still his best seller! Lilly is his most popular character!
Do you know in which books Lilly appears?
Lilly first appears in Chester’s Way. She is the star of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Julius, the Baby of the World and Kevin Henkes’ newest mouse book, Lilly’s Big Day. 17

18. Kevin Henkes
“Lilly makes her first appearance in Chester’s Way. I had a story about two boys, and I wanted to shake up their friendship somehow. It just seemed right that the new person would be a girl. So that is why Lilly happened the way she happened.
And one could make the
case that Lilly is a female
Wendell.”

19. Kevin Henkes
"It's amazing how certain things in everyday life can turn into a book, and the people who inspired it never know it."
Such was the case with
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.
Inspiration for this story struck when Henkes was on a book tour, waiting in an airport in Boise, Idaho, when he spotted a girl with a pocketbook just like Lilly's. "She was driving her father crazy," Henkes says. "It was one of those moments when the light bulb really goes off. I thought the pocketbook would be perfect for Lilly. So I got on the airplane and began writing." 19

20. Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes started writing in high school because he was encouraged by a teacher. Now he says that the words always come first and then the pictures.

21. Kevin Henkes
Today Kevin Henkes writes and draws in his office which is a bedroom in his house.

22. Kevin Henkes
“I've been a worrier all of my life. I think it's because I've been an artist all my life--a good imagination can be deadly to a worrier because you imagine all the terrible things that can happen and that is me. I still am a worrier. Hence, we have Wemberly!”

23. Kevin Henkes Do you remember what your first
day of kindergarten was like?
“I remember being terrified. I did not like kindergarten at all. It was a huge adjustment for me. I was always very comfortable being home, drawing, comfortable in my family, comfortable in my neighborhood. But making the leap from that to school was a huge one for me. Lilly probably loved school from the minute she went, but Owen... I think it was probably a harder transition for him.”
So… do you think Henkes used his own experiences to write Wemberly Worried?

24. Kevin Henkes
“Everyone has story to tell. If you want to write, look at your own personal experiences. Don’t worry about creating masterpieces. Don’t worry if your work is not perfect. Rewrite and keep on working… enjoy what you are doing. Have fun!”

25. Kevin Henkes
Other Kevin Henkes’ books!

26. When we read stories by Kevin Henkes, look for:
- mice acting like people - stories where feelings are important - artwork which shows how characters are feeling,
especially mice tails