A to Zen

A to Zen
Written by Ruth Wells
Illustrated by Yoshi
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in NY in 1992
Genre: Informational Text (Multicultural Work)
Ages: Grades 3-5

Summary: This work is meant to immerse readers into the world of the Japanese. From the way the book is set up (to be read from back to front and right to left) to the plethora of information provides. this work is a fabulous representation of Japanese culture. The author outlines the Japanese alphabet "from A to Zen" and chooses a different Japanese custom or food to teach children about that begins with each letter. Readers are not only introduced to the Japanese alphabet and aspects of Japanese life, but they also have the opportunity to see illustration done in just the way that illustrations are done on traditional Japanese kimonos! The amount of information provided within this picture book is absolutely amazing!

Response: When I found this book, I was looking for something multicultural in general, but when I saw this book, I knew I absolutely had to read it. When I picked it up, I saw that the cover had three Japanese girls, who looked like they were walking to school on the front and above the picture it said "This book begins on the other side." I thought that was strange, but then I remembered that in Eastern countries, they read from the back to the front and from right to left, which this book also makes readers do! When I turned the book to the back cover, I discovered very beautiful cover art and began reading!

I learned so much from this book! Just in the "about this book" section I learned that the Japanese language has only 22 letter and has no sounds for L, Q, V, or X. It also only has five vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, and u, just like English. I also learned about Daruma dolls, on which one paints one eye when they set a goal and the other when they reach it, futons, which are a part of the Japanese tradition, the Peace Park created in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city in order to have a place to pray for lasting peace, ow to count to ten in Japanese, and so many other things about their culture!

The illustrator's technique was to paint with dyes on silk cloth, which is also the traditional way the Japanese dye their kimonos. Often in her illustrations there are horizontal lines where the fabric or the dye might have slight imperfections or the dye might have moved somewhat. I think these characteristics are remarkable intriguing and give much character to the work.

Teaching Connections: A great way to incorporate this book is to have each student in the class choose one work (A-Zen) in this book and research the topic further to give a presentation on that particular tradition. They can use the information n the book as a reference point to begin their research. If there are more than 22 students in a class, the teacher can assign other Japanese words from this book for them. For example, on the page discussing chanoyu, the author also mentions samurai warriors, so another student cold study the samurai.

This book could also be used in this project simply as background information for the teacher about these things and the students could have to research about these topics without this book as a source, which could increase the level of research they may have to do dramatically.

(Image retrieved from http://www.ditto.com/searchresults.aspx?ss=a+to+zen+yoshi&ap=3&mainToolbar=imageSelected&view=l on 19 April 2008)