Posted By: Flo Warren
Posted On: January 5, 2015
A young boy, named Yuuta, and his mom visit Gen, the boys grandfather in rural Japan. They are worried that he is lonely after his wife passed away. They are trying to get the grandfather to move in with them at their homeplace. After a trip to the bathhouse with his grandfather, Yuuta finally realizes that his grandfather is not lonely at all. On their journey to the bathhouse, Yuuta meets all of the friends his grandfather encounters in the town. Youth was feeling sad that his grandfather is not moving in with he and his mom, realizes that his grandfather is surrounded by friends in his home town.
This book would be a great asset in a preschool classroom. I the beginning of the book it displays a short summary and also lists some of the characters. The characters were listed as follows: GEN - Grandfather; TOME- Fish store; GONTA - Son of Tatami the mat maker; KITSU - Tatami the mat maker; YUUTA - Grandson of Gen. Other words that were displayed were GRANDFATHERS, BATHS, LONELINESS, AND JAPAN. These words could be placed on a word wall for the children to see and their meaning before they read the book. I also liked the fact that the book was written in both languages so that the children could have a visual of Japanese writing. In Early Childhood we expose the children to many Multi Cultural things. The pictures are very authentic of the Japanese culture and a Japanese town.
After reading the book to the children, I would emphasize the Japanese writing and invite the children to try and copy it. A discussion on WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TWO WRITINGS? WHICH WRITING DO YOU THINK IS EASIER? COULD YOU READ THE BOOK WITH OUT THE ENGLISH WORDS? WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE BOOK? The book would be displayed in the classroom for the children to explore.
The book was originally published in Japan in 1989 under "OJIICHAN no MACHI". The first Americsan paperback edition was in 1995.