Erika-San

Title: Erika-San

Author/Illustrator: Allen Say

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; First Edition edition (January 26, 2009)

Children's Picture Book

Readability Lexile: Grades 3-5

Summary and Target Audience:

Erika is fascinated by a picture in her grandmother's house of a cottage in Japan.  She learns Japanese in school and finds a teaching job in a remote island.  She studies to learn how to perform a tea ceremony for a friend who after a year becomes her husband. 

This story is a good modern-day fairytale for 3rd-5th Grade.

Evaluation of Literature:
This story could really happen- the author does a great job of making the story real and having a plot that could happen in real life even though it is not based on a true story. The plot and series of events could most definitely happen.
Felt like the time and place- the authors description of the cities the main character Erika went to and being so excited to go visit a  foreign place are things that students dream about on a daily basis.  I felt involved in the story and the illustrations helped me put a picture in my head of what it all looked like from her perspective.
Nonwhite characters- while the main character was a white female the book did a good job of making sure that the other characters were portrayed in a positive way.  As far as being factual and honest to their culture I am not sure.  I have heard of tea ceremonies and I did enjoy that it showed growing Japan with all of the technology while still showing the culture there.  I really liked that it was a female character as well even though the woman came from the U.S.  However, the second character, Aki-san, wasn't as complex as the main character and didn't show a lot of emotion like Erika did. 

Literary Elements:
Allegory- the painting in the beginning of the book is an allegory throughout the book and is used to symbolize her grandfather and her hopes and dreams for the future. It is seen again at the end of the book when she is having tea with Aki-san and later purchases the tea house to live in with him as husband and wife. "Erika would remember the picture all through her life."
Analogy- Erika has to take a bullet train to her destination in Japan and says she feels like she's in a space station.  This helped to visualize what it would look like if you visited a station like this in Japan.  "Erika struggled to the bullet train platform.  Now I'm in a space station, she thought.  And here comes the rocket."
Foreshadowing- at the beginning of the book the author makes sure to spend time describing her looking at the picture of the cottage in Japan and making multiple references to it throughout her journey.  When she goes on a bike ride, a build-up is made to let the reader know the house or something that reminds her of home will be seen. "As they walked toward it, a cottage appeared.  Erika covered her mouth with a hand."

Illustrations:
The illustrations were detailed and beautiful.  They captured the event on the opposite page and were a very good representation of the story.  The characters were depicted in action scenes and the scenery varied from watercolors and general, sweeping mountains to very detailed Japanese houses.

Mini-lesson:
The pictures were really fantastic and the story set up a great plot for teaching modern-day fairy tales.  It could also be used for prediction and setting up a story with a main theme with a central object.