BIBLIOGRAPHY

Say, Allen. 1991. Tree of cranes. New York: Hyperion Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 039552024X

PLOT SUMMARY

The main character in the story begins his narration by remembering the last day he visited the pond that was close to his home. Although his mother had warned him of the dangers many times, he still went. The day was cold and gray, “too cold for the fish to move around”. Instead of watching fish, he caught a chill. When he got home, he was surprised that his mother was not there to greet him because she had always greeted him before. He found her in the living room folding origami paper into cranes. After a hot lunch of rice gruel, the boy finds his mother in the garden digging up the tree that was planted to celebrate the boy’s birth. The confused boy promises to sit quietly if his mother will explain why she has been acting strange on this day—“seven days before the New Year’s Day”. His mother explains that in California where she grew up, this was a very special day. Everywhere you looked you would see trees decorated with bright lights and globes of gold and silver. The boy listens quietly as his mother explains Christmas and its traditions and falls asleep dreaming of a samurai kite. The paintings by Say afford serenity and peace to this touching tale of a mother sharing her childhood memories of a special season with her son.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)

Tree of Cranes is a tribute to the American holiday of Christmas, told by a master storyteller who understands both the American customs of Christmas and the Japanese customs of respecting your elders. With this story, Say effectively spins a bridge that spans the two cultures, giving readers a glimpse of a world alive with customs and traditions. The text is written with a peaceful tone, which provides an excellent backdrop for the paintings that do more to illustrate the Japanese way of life than does the text.

Only three characters are shown in the book, three members of the same family. The skin tones are similar as is the color of each character’s hair. The hairstyle of the mother in the story is conservative, yet chic enough to be seen in Japan or California today. The father and the young boy both have dark hair worn in a conservative style that is both respectful and timeless.

The surroundings of both home and nature are illustrated in neutral colors, emphasized here and there by the bright red of the boy’s scarf of the deep green of the pine tree that was planted on the day he was born. The neutral colors that dominate the illustrations beautifully illustrate the sense of peace and tranquility that rules the Japanese culture.

From the wooden tub where the boy is sent to warm up after his outdoor adventure to the sparse furnishings of the home and the slippers worn by both mother and father, Say brings a traditionally American holiday to the East with a “laudable sensitivity to Eastern and Western cultures—and to both the differences and similarities between them” (Publishers Weekly, 1991).

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Kirkus Reviews. When the young Japanese narrator comes home with a cold after playing in a forbidden pond, his mother “barely looks at him” and puts him into a hot bath and then to bed without so much as a story. She’s busy folding silver paper cranes; later, she brings in the little pine planted when the boy was born and decorates it with candles and the cranes, explaining for the first time how she celebrated Christmas in California, where she grew up.

Publishers Weekly. Heedless of Mama’s warnings, a Japanese boy cannot resist playing at an ice-cold pond “filled with carp of bright colors.” When he comes home, he is immediately treated for a cold, with a hot bath and rice gruel. His mother’s attitude chills him more than the weather, though; he cannot understand why she seems to be ignoring him. Hearing a noise in the garden, the boy spies Mama digging up the pine tree that was planted when he was born. She brings it inside and decorates it with paper cranes and candles. It is a Christmas tree, the first for the boy, and the first in many years for his mother, who tells her son she comes from “a warm place called Ca-li-for-ni-a.”

CONNECTIONS

This is a wonderful story to introduce customs and holidays from Japan and America. It could also be used as a read aloud to interest students in biculturalism.  

Look for these other stories by Allen Say:

Say, Allen. Kamishibai man. ISBN 978-0618479542

Say, Allen. The ink-keeper’s apprentice. ISBN 978-0395705629

Say, Allen. Tea with milk. ISBN 978-0395978603

Say, Allen. Under the cherry blossom tree: an old Japanese tale. ISBN 978-0395845462

Say, Allen. Emma’s rug. ISBN 978-0395742945