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Yuko-chan and the Daruma doll : the adventures of a blind Japanese girl who saves her village / story and illustrations by Sunny Seki.

By: Material type: TextTextNorth Clarendon, Vermont : Tuttle Publishing, 2012Description: 32 pages : colour illustrations ; 29 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9784805311875
Subject(s):
Contents:
Daruma dolls -- Japanese talisman --
Summary: After the 1783 eruption of Japan's Mount Asama destroys crops in nearby villages, a orphaned blind girl who lives at the Daruma Temple in Takasaki invents a doll representing a famed Buddhist monk and his teachings about resilience and resourcefulness..
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Childrens Picture Books Aramoho Community Library Children's Picture Books Children's Picture Books SEKI Available T00836973
Childrens Picture Books Davis (Central) Library Children's Picture Books Children's Picture Books SEKI Available T00836972
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

**2012 Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award Winner!**

Yuko-chan and the Daruma Doll , a gorgeous multicultural children's book by author/illustrator Sunny Seki, takes readers on a journey into ancient Japan and the story behind the famous Daruma Doll.

Yuko-chan, an adventurous blind orphan, is able to do amazing things. She confronts a burglar in the dead of night and crosses treacherous mountain passes to deliver food to hungry people. During her travels, Yuko-chan trips and tumbles down a snowy cliff. She discovers a strange thing as she waits for help: her tea gourd, regardless of how she drops it, always lands right-side-up. The tea has frozen in the bottom of the gourd! Inspired by this, she creates the famous Daruma doll toy, which rights itself when tipped--a true symbol of resilience.

Thanks to Yuko-chan's invention, the villagers are able to earn a living and feed themselves by selling the dolls. Yuko-chan never gave up, no matter the obstacles she faced, and the Daruma doll is a charming reminder of the power of perseverance.

With text in English and Japanese, this book is of special interest to bicultural families.

Bilingual book in Japanese and English

Creative Child Awards - preferred choice -- cover

Daruma dolls -- Japanese talisman --

After the 1783 eruption of Japan's Mount Asama destroys crops in nearby villages, a orphaned blind girl who lives at the Daruma Temple in Takasaki invents a doll representing a famed Buddhist monk and his teachings about resilience and resourcefulness..

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Seki's (The Last Kappa of Old Japan) friendly illustrations supply a wealth of visual information about pre-WWII rural Japan, showing farmhouse interiors, a temple with a rock garden and a schoolroom, and a village festival. His story is a character-building tale about an orphan girl named Yuko, whose blindness doesn't prevent her from participating fully in village life. (Shown with closed eyes, tapping along with a cane, she may be perceived as a bit of a caricature.) Lost in the snow one winter day, she realizes that the tea frozen in the bottom of her tea gourd makes the gourd reorient itself when it's knocked over, reminding her of the Buddhist teacher Daruma and his encouraging words: "If you fall down seven times, you should get up eight times!" Sales of the Daruma doll she designs save her village, whose crops have been ruined by a volcanic eruption. With Japanese text that parallels the English on every page, this is likely to find its most enthusiastic audience among students of Japanese language or culture. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2-Daruma dolls are traditional Japanese talismans of good luck and resilience, often given as a gift to encourage the recipient to persevere in reaching a personal goal. The heartening sentiment behind them is expressed in this story. Yuko overcomes her disability to invent the Daruma doll, inspired by the founder of Zen Buddhism, and rescues her village from poverty through sales of the popular souvenirs. Although parts of the story are based on fact and well-known legend, Yuko's role is completely invented for this book, so readers seeking a traditional tale need to look elsewhere. For those simply wanting an uplifting story that includes elements of Japanese culture, however, this book fits the bill. Children with disabilities will appreciate Yuko, as her cleverness and resourcefulness outshine her physical limitations. Presented in both English and Japanese, the text is occasionally clumsy, but the story is pleasant enough. Some unexplained cultural references might puzzle readers unfamiliar with Japan, and the section of cultural notes would have been more useful within the narrative rather than in an afterword. Brilliantly colored and delightfully detailed illustrations are the true highlight here. The use of bold line gives the impression of woodblock prints and cleverly echoes the broad paint strokes that decorate Daruma dolls. Pages are attractively laid out, and characters' faces are expressive and slightly cartoonish, holding great appeal for young audiences.-Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Their crops devastated by a volcano, the villagers of Takasaki struggle to recover until Yuko-chan, an orphaned blind girl, envisions a way they can recover. After an accident, she tips over her gourd of tea, but the frozen tea always returns it upright, reminding her of Daruma's maxim that If you fall down seven times, you should get up eight times. Yuko-chan suggests that the town make Daruma Dolls from gourds and sell them, a craft that saved Takasaki and continues to this day. Appended notes add cultural information, but most U.S. children will need additional background. Told in English and Japanese, the book's English narrative reads like an awkward translation, but it successfully introduces Buddhist ideas. Cartoon-style art features bright colors and pictures filled with traditional Japanese activity. An attractive glimpse of Buddhist images and ideas, this original story fills a unique niche for libraries.--Perkins, Linda Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

This original legend explains the creation of the Japanese daruma doll. When clever orphan Yuko-chan notices that her tea gourd, if dropped, tips upright again, her village becomes famous for making inspirational dolls out of gourds. The bilingual narrative is a little long and the message about perseverance isn't subtle, but the tale is engaging enough, with cheerful cartoon illustrations. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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