Tree of Cranes

Posted January 13, 2006
(Books about Other Cultures)
Japan: Say, Allen. Tree of Cranes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.

I was drawn in from the first line: “When I was not yet old enough to wear long pants, Mama always worried that I might drown in a neighbor’s pond.” The narrator goes on in that quiet voice to explain how Mama got upset that he got wet and chilled on a cold December day. She sent him to bed and later came in with a tree in a blue pot, “the little pine Mama and Papa had planted when I was born, so I would live a long life like the tree.” She explains how she lived for awhile in a place called “Ca-li-for-ni-a,” and how they celebrated a special day of peace and giving and receiving presents. She ties origami cranes to the tree and decks it with candles, which the little boy begs to light. The end result is a uniquely pretty tree, and a potentially corny story gracefully achieved by Say. He combines elements of Japanese and American cultures beautifully, both by word and picture. The illustrations are perhaps even more delightful than the story. In them, we see a traditional Japanese home with its delicate screens, wooden bathtub and bed on the floor. The characters are in traditional dress and we see their green tea cake and bowl of rice gruel with “a sour plum and yellow radishes.” Tree of Cranes gets an A+.