Book Title: A Single Shard
Author: Linda Sue Park
Reviewer: Victoria Katrencik, Second Grade Teacher, Winchester Thurston School, Pittsburgh, PA
The Single Shard is a beautiful book, rich in history, culture, ideas and language; it can be appreciated on many levels and adapted to a variety of ages and subject areas. Although the book is publisher-recommended for ages ten and up, I feel it could work well as a read aloud for able second graders (eight- year olds), or as a read aloud/read along with third graders (nine-year olds), and could be read more independently by fourth through eighth graders.
The story is set in a celadon pottery making village in twelfth century Korea. Tree-ear, a ten-year old orphan boy, lives under the bridge, scavenging food, along with an elderly friend who is known as Crane-man because he walks on one good leg. Tree-ear has been secretly watching Min, the best master potter in the village, and dreaming of becoming a potter himself one day. After Tree-ear accidently breaks a piece of Min’s pottery, Min allows him to pay for the damage with manual labor. Thus begins Tree-ear’s apprentice- style relationship with Min and his wife. When the king’s emissary visits the village looking for pottery worthy of a royal commission, he recognizes the quality of Master Min’s work, but wishes for pots inlaid in the newest style which the elderly Min has been unable to complete in time. Tree-ear undertakes the journey to the capital to deliver finished examples of Min’s art. Along the way he sees many wonders but also meets with danger and treachery, and arrives at the royal court with only one shard of a pot to show the emissary. Due to his perseverance and resourcefulness Tree-ear secures a royal commission for Master Min and returns to the village to find his life forever changed.
The themes in this story are friendship and family, love and loyalty, courage and persistence, art and excellence, dreams and disappointment. It can be enjoyed as a well written adventure tale, but it also presents many opportunities to help our students understand and appreciate the history and culture of an important area of the world.
The story clearly illustrates some of the basic ideas of Confucianism, which is still relevant to the world view of modern day Korean culture. The role of relationships, central to Confucian thought, is explored throughout the story:
• friend to friend
• teacher and student
• elder and youth
• husband and wife
• ruler and subject
The emphasis on family and the parent-child relationship is shown by the way village society assigned the orphaned Tree-ear to the role of outcast and by the loneliness of the childless Min and his wife.
Confucian thought emphasized education and discussion, especially of moral issues. “Scholars read the great words of the world, but you and I must learn to read the world itself”, Crane-man reminds Tree-ear. Tree-ear, by the age of ten, has already developed the very Confucian habit of pondering ethical dilemmas, such as when he wonders whether stealing Kang’s new idea for inlay design is the same as stealing an object itself. Many of the questions posed in the book could be the starting point for class discussions using the shared inquiry model.
How Tree- ear learns to be a potter is a fascinating lesson in the beginning steps of traditional apprenticeship as he first does menial tasks for the master, then experiments with the materials on his own, closely observes the silent master at work, and eventually earns a place at his own wheel. Students could compare this model of learning with the way they learn a new skill.
Crane-man advises Tree-ear that any journey can be accomplished “one day, one village at a time”, and the journey becomes a metaphor for Tree-ear’s pursuit of his dream. Tree-ear demonstrates persistence throughout the story, as he scavenges food, cuts wood, learns to mold clay animals, completes his dangerous journey to the capital, and pursues his dream to become a potter. Min persistently seeks perfection in his craft. We are told that he “never failed to reject the first attempt”, and even Tree-ear has a hard time understanding how Min can smash all the vases with imperfect glazes. Further discussion of perseverance as a character trait would certainly be worthwhile, and practical application to the revising of first drafts of writing is an easy connection to make.
The concept of yin and yang is clearly illustrated in the description of the plum blossoms in the prunus vase on page 52. It is “the work of humans, the work of nature; clay from the earth, a branch from the sky.” We can see here the elements represented by the three main symbols for heaven (a dot), earth (a horizontal line), and man (a vertical line) from King Sejong’s wonderful Korean phonetic alphabet. These symbols, along with the Korean flag, could be a visual addition to the class concept/question board relating to the story.
The process of creating celadon pottery is as ongoing part of the story and contains much technical information. Pictures, examples, and field trips to see pottery would all enrich the study of this book, but given Tree-ear’s direct involvement in learning his craft, a hands-on experience for students with clay would be ideal. Or this book could be a lovely end of year read aloud for a class that has studied Asia and has had an art unit on pottery.
I would definitely give this book a five star rating and recommend its use in the elementary or middle school classroom.
