Crow Boy

I first heard of Crow Boy at Bank Street College in a Children's Literature class. It really stood out to me as a book that has a deep and meaningful message. It's recommended for third graders I believe because of the tough issues that are discussed by the author, Taro Yashima. Crow Boy is about a little boy nicknamed, Chibi meaning "tiny boy" in Japanese. He was from the mountains in Japan and was largely ignored for most of his years in elementary school because he didn't fit in. In his alienation, Chibi focused his energies on seeing what he wanted to see, tuning out and therefore tuning into nature's sounds and characteristics. He comes to school, rain or shine, often wearing dried zebra grass, as was the custom of mountain people in Japan. He is ostracized, ridiculed and finally dismissed by the others as not worth knowing until the sixth grade when an exceptional teacher named Mr. Isobe "a friendly man with a kind smile" recognized Chibi's gifts of understanding the world of nature. He hung up his drawings to be admired, applauded his knowledge of agriculture, and finally displayed Chibi's vast expertise of Crows and their sounds at the school talent show. He could perfectly imitate baby crows, mother crows, father crows, happy crows, unhappy crows, and crows deep in the forest. Chibi had learned all the sounds that crows make on his long walks to and from school for six years at dawn and dusk. Everyone could then start to appreciate this very special boy and as a result everyone cried and knew that they had treated Chibi wrongly. Even the adults were surprised as they wiped their tears away. When graduation day came, he was the only student honored for perfect attendance. In the summer when school let out, Chibi would sell the charcoal in town made by his family. By that time, the others no longer called him Chibi but Crow Boy which he seemed to like. He had the respect of his peers due to a teacher's efforts. Mr. Isobe took the time reach out and do what was right. He got to know his learner. This book makes me cry.