Wabi Sabi

Bibliography

Reibstein, Mark. 2008. Wabi Sabi. Ill. by Ed Young. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316118255.

Audi-book recorded by Jennifer Ikeda. 2009. Recorded Books, LLC. Recorded by arrangement with McIntosh & Otis, Inc. ISBN: 9781440719210

Plot Summary

Wabi Sabi, a little cat in Kyoto, Japan, had never thought much about her name until friends visiting from another land asked her owner what it meant. Her master did not answer for a while and when she did all she could say was “That is hard to explain.” Wabi Sabi is unsatisfied with the answer and sets out to find the meaning of her name. She asks her friend, Snowball, her not so nice friend Rascal the dog, and a bird what her name means. They all respond, “That is hard to explain.” The bird does give Wabi Sabi advice: “But there is someone who can help you. His name is Kosho and he lives on Mount Hiei, to the east.” Wabi Sabi sets out to find the mountain. Wabi Sabi travels through the city and finally arrives at Mt. Hiei and falls asleep. When she wakes, she meets a monkey who offers her tea and the true meaning of Wabi Sabi: a Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in simplicity, the ordinary, and imperfection.

Critical Analysis

In his picture book, Mark Reibstein weaves a wonderful story about finding real beauty in unexpected places. The text is simple, easy to read prose and Haiku poems. Each page also has the Haiku poem written in Japanese. At the end of the book, there is a history of Wabi Sabi and information about Haiku and Haibun. In addition, there are Haiku poems written by the great Japanese poets, Bosho and Shiki, at the end of the book. These poems are then translated into English by Nanae Tamura. The reader holds the book vertically to view full page spreads of striking collages, which look real enough to touch. The collages are made of various materials (straw, paper, hair, all kinds of things) and are amazing, as Ed Young’s word so often is.

This beautiful book has many markers of the Japanese culture. Wabi Sabi’s master is dressed in a traditional kimono and is sitting on her knees as if she is performing the tea ceremony. The most apparent mark of this culture is the actual idea of Wabi Sabi. Reibstein says:

Wabi Sabi is a way of seeing the world that is at the heart of Japanese culture. It finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, natural, modest, and mysterious. It can be a little dark, but it is also warm and comfortable. It may best be understood as a feeling, rather than as an idea.

Review Excerpts

Jo Anna Patton (Library Media Connection, June 2009)
A young cat, interested in knowing the meaning of her name, Wabi Sabi, travels around to question different animals. It is only when she finds the wise old monkey at the Silver Temple that she discovers that her name means ‘finding real beauty in unexpected places.’ The strength of this book lies in its depth. On a basic level is the story itself, which draws the reader into the cat’s journey. On another level is the artwork provided by well-known children’s author/illustrator Ed Young. Each page is laid out in color highlighted with a haiku in Japanese. Finally, the end of the book provides a history of the phrase, Wabi Sabi, and an English translation for all of the Japanese haiku presented.

Ilene Cooper (Booklist, Sep. 1, 2008 (Vol. 105, No. 1) Reibstein and Young have created a magnificent offering that is the embodiment of Wabi Sabi, incorporating all the elements listed above. Remarkably, the well-paced story is also ethereal, bringing readers, like its protagonist, to the edge of comprehension, then letting them absorb all that has come before to make their own connections. In this endeavor, the text is aided by Young’s amazing collages. So lifelike are they that children will reach out to touch, and then touch again, not quite believing the art is one-dimensional. The format, which has readers opening the book lengthwise, allows extra room for embellishments like haiku by poets Basho and Shiki written in Japanese on the page and translated in an addendum. A glorious piece of bookmaking whose subject and execution will reach a wide age range.

Connections

Other Poetry books about Haiku:

If Not for the Cat: Haiku by Jack Prelutsky. ISBN 9780060596774

Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho by Dawnine Spivak ; illustrated by Demi. ISBN 9780689807763

Learn about Ed Young: http://www.edyoung.info/

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/POETRYCLASS/haiku.html

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_assets/books/educatorguides/WABI_SABI_EduGuide.pdf.