[.ca] Tree of Cranes (ISBN 039552024X)

Wonderful Illustrations, Good & Meaningful Story:
I loved this book enough to, in pre-Amazon days, put in two special orders (both failed) through Crown Books and finally, after two years, find a children's specialty book store that could get it for me. It is the story of a small boy learning to obey his mother as well as the story of his first Christmas. The book's strength is its astonishing illustrations. The luminous pictures of the family's Japanese home, the small pine tree with the silver origami cranes and candles, and the emotion on the face of the little boy captivate my son, who is not yet two and a half. Even at his age, which is much younger than this book is intended for, he really responds to the poetic text, the relationship between the boy and his mother, his struggle to obey his mother and deal with her disapproval of his misbehavior, and the beauty of the tree of cranes. This is a peaceful and gentle text, and I am grateful that I can finally read my son this story that both helps to build his character and exposes him to the beauty and grace of Japanese form.

Read it quietly:
This autobiographical story of author Allen Say's discovery of Christmas is gentle and beautiful. A little boy in Japan (Say) wasn't supposed to play near the neighbor's carp pond, but he did, and fell in! Mother was a little mad at him, but she was preoccupied with making origami cranes. She put them on a tree that she brought in from the garden, and explained to her puzzled son that this was a Christmas tree. (She had lived in California as a girl.) The boy asked for and received a Samurai kite as a gift. He never forgot that day, because it was the first time he ever heard about Christmas. This lovely story introduces children to a traditional Japanese family and to a child who experiences two cultures. The illustrations are quite unique and are almost shiny. The simple text is easy to read and children from 6-8 love this book.