Aviary Wonders Inc. By Kate Samworth

Aviary Wonders Inc: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual By Kate Samworth

Although this book is made in a 32 page picture book format, it is perfectly suitable for a 4th-5th grade audience. On the surface, it is a catalog for us to buy parts that when assembled, make our perfect bird, and that is amazing and fun. Beyond that, it invites us to consider a world without natural birds, one where they must be taught to sing, their beaks must be strapped on and where a clumsy human hand can create a bird with so much decoration that it cannot lift its head. These lovely creatures are made from silk and leather with the finest craftsmanship, but something essential is missing. The message is subtly presented and the reader will be lost in the beautiful artwork.

The Golden Crane

The Golden Crane: a Japanese Folktale by Tohr Yamaguchi, Illus. by Marianne Yamaguchi, 1963.

Little Toshi, a "deaf and dumb" child of a fishing village, loses his family during a terrible spring storm, but is adopted by kindly old Oji-san. Toshi helps his new guardian unload his fishing catches and loves to watch the cranes fly out at sunrise. One day, he finds a wounded bird, which the two nurse back to health. Unfortunately, few have seen such a holy bird close at hand, and soon their home and village are overrun with visitors, many of them powerful, clamoring to see and even buy the beautiful crane. Oji-san protects the crane as best he can, but soon their are orders that the emperor will be coming to claim the bird. It will take a miracle to save it.

Marianne Yamaguchi has provided black and white illustrations for The Golden Crane.

The Crane Wife

The Crane Wife Retold by Odds Bodkin, Illus. by Gennady Spirin, 1998.

The Crane Wife is yet another animal bride/bridegroom story where one spouse is given a simple rule to follow and she/he can't help breaking it, bringing about sorrow. Think of stories like "East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon," "Beauty and the Beast," the Selkie legends, and in a recent post "Urashima Taro." These restrictions are spelled out clearly: don't look at me during a forbidden time, don't speak of me to others, don't let me find my animal skin, don't open the box I've given you, and don't watch me at work!

In this case, the lonely sailmaker Osamu ruins his chance at happiness when he intentionally observes his wife as she is making a magical sail for him to sell. He watches her even though he has been explicitly asked not to, even though he knows that she makes these sails at a great personal cost. He is stupid, yet the reader can't help feeling empathy for his self-created trouble. He has not been a particularly cruel man, saving and nursing a crane harmed during an autumn storm. He seems to love his wife Yukiko. Yet, he can't keep his promise to her, allowing conceit, ambition and rationalization  to overcome his better judgement.

The injured crane

I've already expressed my admiration for illustrator Gennedy Spirin in my post about the Russian folktale "The Firebird" here , and I continue to be impressed by the  watercolor and gouache art in The Cranewife. Fortunately, Spirin mentions finding visual references from medieval Japan, so we know in what his art is grounded. He uses rich but subtle colors in his beautiful paintings and the spreads swirling with leaves, clouds and snow brings a mystical feel.

The Five Sparrows: a Japanese Folktale

The Five Sparrows: a Japanese Folktale Adapted & Illus. by Patricia Montgomery Newton, 1982.

This is another tale similar in theme to The Old Man Who Made the Trees Bloom (See that post Here ) that contrasts good and evil people's behavior, where kindness is rewarded and wicked deeds are punished. A group of bad children are throwing stones at birds, and break a poor sparrow's back. Fortunately, a compassionate old woman rescues the bird and nurses it back to health, in spite of the jeers of her family. When the sparrow can  fly again it brings her a magic seed which will provide bountiful gifts.
Her envious neighbors feel that they too should be rich, and the mother of that house starts looking for injured birds. She becomes impatient however, and hurries the process along harming not one but four sparrows. She too eventually receives seeds from the birds that she nurses, but they only bring illness, enraged neighbors and clouds of nasty flies.

Newton's art is done in grey scale, turquoise and orange on white. It is done in a traditional style, so the rock-throwing children look like adults to me. My favorite pictures are of the sparrows, looking sweet and downy-headed.