I'm afraid our normal school time routine has gone by the wayside over the last three weeks, and even reading has been hit and miss as I keep losing my voice. My plan was that we should study Japan for geography. We didn't get far beyond sampling sushi and Angel writing a notebook page about origami, karate and karaoke, but we did manage to read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Based on a true story, this short book tells of a young Japanese girl living in Hiroshima in the 1950s who succumbs to the "atom bomb disease", leukaemia. She keeps up her spirits by trying to fold a thousand paper cranes, believing that if she does so she will recover.
The story is a sad one, but told in fairly simple terms that make it suitable as a read aloud for younger children (say seven and up?) as well as an easy read for older ones. It makes a good introduction to an unpleasant aspect of twentieth century history without being too graphic, and gives a lot of incidental detail about life in a Japanese city. Our copy also included instructions for folding paper cranes, which led to a short foray into origami.
Note:The book includes a number of references to Japanese religon, presumably Shinto.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Book Review: Sadako and the Paper Cranes
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3 comments:
My Anne *loves* this book, and anything else about Sadako.
You might also want to check out Eleanor Coerr's "Mieko and the Fifth Treasure." Mieko is a little girl with great artistic talent, but then her hand is hurt in the bombing. Her family and a friend help her to recover and start painting and doing calligraphy again.
Thank you Karen. Sounds good, and I hadn't heard of it.
Hope you like it. Anne loves just about anything having to do with Japan.
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