Title: The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks
Author: Katherine Paterson
Publisher: Lodestar Books
Genre: Traditional Tales
Number of Pages: 34 pages
Discovery of Book: Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature
Reading Level: Lexile: 930
Awards: Booklist, Booklist starred, Elementary School Library Collection, Horn Book Starred, Publishers Weekly, Wilson's Children
Summary: The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks is about a lord who constantly looked for beautiful items that could decorate his home. One day he saw a beautiful mandarin duck, in all its plumage, and insisted on taking it back to his manor. The duck soon became limp and almost lifeless because it missed its mate whowas alone, sitting on their eggs at their nest. One day the kitchen maid, Yasuko, secretly took the duck back to it's nest, feeling sympathy for the poor creature. The lord became furious that his duck was missing and accused his house servant, Shozo of stealing the drake. Soon both Yasuko and Shozo were sentenced to death when it became known of what had happened. Luckily the night of their imposed death, messengers came to the mansion requesting that any priosoners being put to death must be sent to the Imperial Court. As the two prisoners marched through the forest to the court, two messengers emerged from the forest, giving Yasuko and Shozo a place to sleep and food to eat. The next morning when the two servants woke, they saw the drake and his mate in the field who soon flew away. The servents lived happily ever after away from the lord, being protected by the mandarin ducks.
Personal Connection: I loved this book because it shows that doing the right thing in situations may at first cause you grief, but eventually reward you for your efforts. When I read The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks I was enamored with how both Yasuko and Shozo stood up for a creature in need. The two homly servants risked their lives to save a duck! Showing that Yasuko and Shozo were saved by the ducks at the end of the story helps to shed light on the phrase, "What comes around goes around." Since the servants helped the trapped drake, the drake returned the favor by saving the servants lives.
Evaluation/Analysis: This folktale would be great as a read aloud in the Middle School Classroom. Despite the fact that the reading level is between 3rd and 6th grade, the book still offers a plethora of vocabulary words that students could learn from. Furthermore, the story provides an excellent lesson about doing for others that you would like have done to you. Many middle schoolers need this lesson.
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks would fit perfectly into a unit about holocausts. The moral of the story is to help others in need and you will be repaid for your actions. This idea would be a great way to begin instruction in the class. By asking students if they feel that they could support a friend in need or if they would help a stranger if they were in trouble. A discussion on this matter could lead to asking students to pretend that they were Germans during the Holocaust, would they help hid a Jew? Students could be posed this question using any time period, such as, "If you were a Southerner during the slavery era, would you help slaves escape via The Runaway Railroad?" All together, this book could help students evaluate how they would act during a trying time period.
Author: Katherine Paterson
Publisher: Lodestar Books
Genre: Traditional Tales
Number of Pages: 34 pages
Discovery of Book: Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature
Reading Level: Lexile: 930
Awards: Booklist, Booklist starred, Elementary School Library Collection, Horn Book Starred, Publishers Weekly, Wilson's Children
Summary: The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks is about a lord who constantly looked for beautiful items that could decorate his home. One day he saw a beautiful mandarin duck, in all its plumage, and insisted on taking it back to his manor. The duck soon became limp and almost lifeless because it missed its mate whowas alone, sitting on their eggs at their nest. One day the kitchen maid, Yasuko, secretly took the duck back to it's nest, feeling sympathy for the poor creature. The lord became furious that his duck was missing and accused his house servant, Shozo of stealing the drake. Soon both Yasuko and Shozo were sentenced to death when it became known of what had happened. Luckily the night of their imposed death, messengers came to the mansion requesting that any priosoners being put to death must be sent to the Imperial Court. As the two prisoners marched through the forest to the court, two messengers emerged from the forest, giving Yasuko and Shozo a place to sleep and food to eat. The next morning when the two servants woke, they saw the drake and his mate in the field who soon flew away. The servents lived happily ever after away from the lord, being protected by the mandarin ducks.
Personal Connection: I loved this book because it shows that doing the right thing in situations may at first cause you grief, but eventually reward you for your efforts. When I read The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks I was enamored with how both Yasuko and Shozo stood up for a creature in need. The two homly servants risked their lives to save a duck! Showing that Yasuko and Shozo were saved by the ducks at the end of the story helps to shed light on the phrase, "What comes around goes around." Since the servants helped the trapped drake, the drake returned the favor by saving the servants lives.
Evaluation/Analysis: This folktale would be great as a read aloud in the Middle School Classroom. Despite the fact that the reading level is between 3rd and 6th grade, the book still offers a plethora of vocabulary words that students could learn from. Furthermore, the story provides an excellent lesson about doing for others that you would like have done to you. Many middle schoolers need this lesson.
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks would fit perfectly into a unit about holocausts. The moral of the story is to help others in need and you will be repaid for your actions. This idea would be a great way to begin instruction in the class. By asking students if they feel that they could support a friend in need or if they would help a stranger if they were in trouble. A discussion on this matter could lead to asking students to pretend that they were Germans during the Holocaust, would they help hid a Jew? Students could be posed this question using any time period, such as, "If you were a Southerner during the slavery era, would you help slaves escape via The Runaway Railroad?" All together, this book could help students evaluate how they would act during a trying time period.
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