Yoko's Paper Cranes
by Rosemary Wells
by Rosemary Wells
This is a sweet short little book that has very colorful illustrations and is an all around fun read. The basic story line is of a Japanese kitty named Yoko who spends time with her Grandparents before her family moves to America. That time she spends with them stays with her long after she has left Japan, but she longs to return to see her grandparents again.
The book includes the Japanese words for Grandmother and Grandfather as well as introduces ideas of Japanese tradition and even has step by step illustrations on how to fold an origami crane.
The author focuses on the idea of patience. Patience in waiting for the cranes to come back to Grandmother's garden, patience in waiting to get back to see her Grandparents again, the perfection is in the waiting.
I wonder if this was read in Japanese, would it be written as a haiku? I really enjoyed the Japanese influences such as the traditionalism and formality of the Japanese culture as its represented here.
The post man bows as he greets Obaasan at the door with the package, the tea ceremony is also shown though not elaborated on. My favorite part is the last page where is says "Obaasan sipped her green tea while the snow fell outside the window." This is the neatest way to end a book (though my daughter kept wondering what was on the next page).
All in all I do recommend this book as a short and sweet little read that is easy to understand, has good lessons and is fun enough to read over and over as kids are want to do.
The book includes the Japanese words for Grandmother and Grandfather as well as introduces ideas of Japanese tradition and even has step by step illustrations on how to fold an origami crane.
I wonder if this was read in Japanese, would it be written as a haiku? I really enjoyed the Japanese influences such as the traditionalism and formality of the Japanese culture as its represented here.
The post man bows as he greets Obaasan at the door with the package, the tea ceremony is also shown though not elaborated on. My favorite part is the last page where is says "Obaasan sipped her green tea while the snow fell outside the window." This is the neatest way to end a book (though my daughter kept wondering what was on the next page).
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8 comments:
Sounds like a fun post Maddie...your blog gets better and better..
Robin
Great review! Makes me want to go check out the book and see if David will like it.
Well good MooseThreads, that is my intention to let you know which ones are good and why (and if we come across any we don't like I'll review those too).
That sounds like a great and perfect book for my life right now! I am going home to visit my family and want to make amazing memories that stick with my girls about their grandma! Perfect! Great find!
Great review Kristina :) We're making our library bags this week so we'll be sure to see if they have this at the library.
Great review. Wonderful blog!!!
oh This might be perfect for my friends daughter. They just received orders to Japan! Sounds like a great read. Thankyou for sharing=)
That book looks fun! I remember feeling really special in 1st grade because a Japanese exchange student taught us some Japanese words and numbers:) It is a great idea to give kids a glimpse into other cultures of the world.
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