PPBF: The Paper Crane

Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick

The Paper Crane, by Molly Bang
Courtesy Amazon

The Paper Crane
Written and Illustrated by Molly Bang
Greenwillow, 1985
grades K-3, 450 words

Themes:
magic, kindness

Opening:

"A man once owned a restaurant on a busy road. He loved to cook good food and he loved to serve it. He worked from morning until night, and he was happy."

Synopsis:
Father and son restaurant owner take pity on a poor stranger even though business is slow. In return for his meal, the old stranger fold a napkin into a magic origami crane. When the restaurant owner claps his hands, the bird becomes a living crane and dances beautifully. The magic bird draws customers to the restaurant again. Even when the stranger returns to claim his crane, the restaurant family is happy, serving food and sharing the kindness in their hearts.


What I Love:
No deep meanings or complex characters here. Just a simple story about joy and kindness. This is a modern story with a fairy tale feel. The spare text and gorgeous cut-paper illustrations have kept this book on the shelves and in the hearts of its readers.

Bonus:

1. Make a paper crane, of course! Or dabble in other Origami forms. Origami Instructions for Kids is a good place to begin. Or buy one of Kunihiko Kashahara's books, like Origami Made Easy. I've used mine for thirty years.

Available at the Printmeneer's Etsy shop

2. Learn about the history of Japanese American immigration at the JANM website.
3. Play restaurant with this fun DIY cabinet-turned-diner.
4. Printmeneer makes amazingly clever cookie cutters that look like folded paper cranes.
5. If you are studying picture book structure with ReFoReMo, Molly Bang gives a basic structure for this and other folk tales on her website.
6. Check out these and other Perfect Picture Books at your local library.

Reviewed by Carrie

Reviewed by Joanne

Reviewed by Erik

Reviewed by Joanna

Reviewed by Julie

Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for March 20, 2015 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin

by Betsy and Molly Bang
Macmillan, 1975

The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin by Molly Bang is a Bengali folktale translated and adapted by Betsy Bang.  This is the third book she illustrated, but is one of my favorites.  Bang's style for this book was based on art depicting Jainism.  However, the emergence of her style and the influences this religious art had on her future illustrations is obvious.

The story follows a widow who travels to her grand-
daughter's house.  Along the way she meets some hungry animals.  The old woman will have to use all her cleverness to arrive safely at her family's house and return home again unharmed.

I didn't discover this charming book until I had a family of my own, but it reminds me of The Lambikin by Helen S. Hansen, illustrated by Jack and Louise Meyers for Whitman in 1962. I used to ask my mother to read The Lambikin over and over.   The Lambikin was originally taken from Tales of the Punjab, so the comparison makes perfect sense.

The old woman meets the bear,
Molly Bang

Lambikin by Helen Hansen