Crow Boy by Taro Yashima

Crow Boy
Taro Yashima
Viking: New York 1955

This book is a great way to introduce the topic of bullying through a multicultural lens. This story centers around a boy that does not fit with the social and cultural norms of his classmates throughout his school career. He continually is bullied and made fun of until the sixth grade when a teacher takes interest in him and creates opportunities for him to show his talents and knowledge. This account of prolonged bullying and the resilience of a single student who does not fit in the social norm uses what seems to be colored pencil illustrations that allow for shading, multiple color use, and abstraction within each illustration. Each classmate's face along with the main character's face are somewhat blurred and allow for a greater audience for this story, since it is not esoterically identified with Japan and Japanese culture. The theme truly carries this story of an outcast boy who is later admired for his crow calls and becomes called "Crow Boy".

The Japanese culture is portrayed sparsely in this account, but it is clear, from the illustrations and some parts of the language, that this story takes place in Japan. The colors that are used, such as yellow, bright blue, pink, and green, are not typical to Japanese traditional arts, but bring a great vibrancy to the story and a lighthearted nature to parts of the story that are more optimistic. The faces are somewhat abstracted so the characters are not expressly Japanese, but the cultural elements, such as a lunch of a rice ball wrapped in a radish leaf and a raincoat made from dried zebra grass, show Japanese elements are included in this story.

I would definitely recommend this story to grades 2-4. This is a short picture book with bright illustrations that covers an interesting theme that is extremely applicable and relevant to American students today. Although this book was written some time ago, the topic of bullying, respecting multiple intelligences, and encouraging unknown talents in students are still truly important for students to understand. Overall, I think that this book shows some authentic cultural details with vibrant illustrations and a terrific theme.

After reading the story make some questions.

1- How would you field if you where crow boy?

2- Do you know someone that looks like crow boy in your class or neighbor ?

3- What would you o to make "Chibie" feel better?

4- What does "Chibie" means? it means small boy

After this you can make some craft using things that you can find in the feel,

like acorn rap or dried leaf and try to make your own Chibie or Chibie clothes.