Jerry Pinkney
I read this year's Caldecott Medal winner, The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney. This wordless adaptation to one of Aesop's fables was definitely a good selection to receive this prestigious award. Honestly, I was unsure of how the fable went and was at first worried if the students would be able to decipher the story from the amazing illustrations. The pictures were easily interpretive of the story.
The mouse disturbs the lion who picks him up by the tail. He curiously looks at the creature before simply letting him go free. The mouse scampers away squeaking with relief. Poachers are then seen setting up traps to catch the lion. They are successful; Lion is trapped in their woven net. Mouse hears a gigantic roar and scurries to help his new friend. He gnaws his way through the rope and sets Lion free. Mouse is then seen running to meet his other friends squeaking all the way.I loved how the illustrations really demonstrated the feelings that these two characters were displaying. You could easily see the determination that Mouse was showing when gnawing through Lion's trap. I believe that the students would really enjoy this book. The Lion and the Mouse was truly deserving of this year's Caldecott Medal.
Jerry Pinkney wrote and illustrated many other children's books. He is responsible for titles such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Red Hen, Noah's Ark, and The Little Match Girl. His illustrations are featured in titles such as The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me, Goin' Someplace Special plus many more.
Yoshiko Uchida
Yoshiko Uchida's, The Best Bad Thing, is the sequel to her book A Jar of Dreams. The story takes place in California in the 1930's. As you would expect of this time period, financial struggles are the characters' biggest obstacle. A lesson to be learned in this story is very evident- all things, good or bad, happen for a reason, even if that reason is not very clear at that moment.
Rinko, a Japanes girl, is asked by her parents to help their friend, Mrs. Hata, as she rebounds from the loss of her husband. Rinko did want to leave her friends and family and relocate to East Oakland for a month. She always thought of Mrs. Hato as crazy; her father put her mind at ease by giving her the option of coming home after two weeks if she did not adjust well.Rinko left to do her Christian duties and help a friend in need by helping with household chores, caring for her two sons, and aiding in her business of cucumber farming. She was also meant to keep Mrs. Hata company since she did not have a daughter, which was something that she discovered was not true. She soon realized that Mrs. Hata was not crazy, but instead superstitious and believed that the spirit of her husband lingered around her. Rinko was also surprised to learn that Mrs. Hata did have a daughter who was much older, but she lived in Japan since an early age because she couldn't provide for her. Her goal was to save money to bring her daughter back home. Rinko soon changed her tune and began to have compassion for her and wanted to help as much as she could.
Bad things started to happen to Mrs. Hata and the gang. First, Rinko sprained her ankle jumping off a freight train; something she and the boys were warned not to do. She now had guilt since she now couldn't help out as much as she wanted to. The mysterious man who lived in their barn helped her with a homemade remedy. She was thankful and wanted to learn more about this secretive man.
She was always warned that bad things happen in threes so she wasn't surprised by the following events. While the kids were waiting for Mrs. Hata to go to the factory to deliver cucumbers, the boys heard a freight train. They took off to participate again in their favorite activity. Tragedy occurred; the youngest brother, Abu, was hurt badly when jumping off the train. He suffered nerve damage to his arm and had to remain in the hospital. This led to the third bad thing. While at the hospital, Mrs. Hata's truck, an essential to her farming business, was stolen. She was worried how she would be able to support the family.
It was now that she began to learn more about the mysterious man since he helped out when Abu was in the hospital. She learned that he was an illegal alien and nobody could ever know that he was living in the United States. When her parents came to visit Abu, they asked if she wanted to come home. A sense of responsibility came over her; Rinko was changing. She knew that she could not leave Mrs. Hata like this and she wanted to stay to help. She gained the courage to ask Mrs. Hata about the spirits that were talked about often. She questioned if they were in existence.
So the cycle of bad things should be completed; however, this was not the case. A woman approached the house knowing that this family was in desperate need and wanted to place her on Welfare. Mrs. Hata and the kids were against this as they were going to have to move downtown and leave their house. Then something amazing happened. Rinko experienced the spirits. She told Mrs. Hata that her deceased husband does not want her to go on Welfare and leave their home. Rinko thought of herself as a medium that relayed messages from the dead. In the meantime, the mysterious man fled in fear of being caught by immigration and went back to his homeland, even though he did not go back a rich man as he once originally thought.
Abu came home and Rinko's parents were able to find Mrs. Hata a job which allowed the family to remain in their home. The message was clear at the end. Even though bad things happened to this family, success resulted. While the title seemed confusing at first it was evident of its meaning as the story unfolded. Her relocation was first looked upon as a bad thing, but ended up being the best bad thing that ever happened to Rinko. If it were not for this series of unfortunate events, then the mysterious man would not have gone back home and Rinko gained a great deal of responsibility. She really grew up during the time spent with Mrs. Hata. A nice life lesson is depicted in this story. Even though she didn't want to go, she followed her faith and learned compassion for other people.
Other works written by Yoshiko Uchida include The Dancing Kettle, The Promised Year, A Jar of Dreams, and Sumi's Prize.
