The Funny Little Woman Book Summary
Mosel, Arlene. "The Funny Little Woman." Ill. Blair Lent. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1972.
Summary: The funny little woman sells rice dumplings. One day her rice dumpling rolls into a crack in the earth, and she tumbles down with it. She chases the dumpling underground, being warned by the Jizo Sama statues that the wicked oni might get her. The wicked oni do get her, and they make her cook rice for them using a magic paddle that multiplies rice from just one grain. After several months, the little woman runs away taking a boat down the river. The oni drink up the water, but they let the water go when they start laughing. The little woman is able to get away, and she becomes the richest woman in Japan by selling so many rice dumpling using the magic paddle.
Personal Response: This picture book won a Caldecott Award in 1973 for its imaginative illustrations. I love how the objects in most of the pictures are green while the funny little woman is wearing a red kimono. It sets up the audience for a very vibrant, clashing story. When I look at the predominant colors, I feel terror. There are also black and white sketches alongside or opposite the main pictures that are just as important. these sketches show what is happening in the rest of the world beyond the little woman's knowledge. this alludes to the fact taht narration is omniscient.
This story is great for leading the class in thinking out loud, especially making predictions. I could make little post-it notes inside the story on the pages to mark specific points I want to make. There are four questions for sure I could ask, When the woman falls, into the hole, I could ask, "What do you think is int eh hole?" The student s could then turn to their left shoulder partner and take 30 seconds to discuss what they think is going to happen. when the oni finds the little woman, I could ask, "What do you think the oni will do with the little woman?" The students could then turn to their right shoulder partner and discuss their predictions. When we get to the large picture with the first glance of the oni village, I could query, "What do we know so far about the oni from what I've read and what you've seen?" The students could raise their hands and tell me about what they know. I could then write it on a big piece of paper or whiteboard. On the last big picture when the old man is helping the little woman, I could ask, "What do you think is going to happen now?" By this time, the students would have heard that the woman makes rice dumplings and has the magic paddle.
Activities:
- I could use this story further by integrating it into a unit on Asian history. I could introduce the students to rice dumpling before reading the story. Afterwards, we could look at how the little woman's worldview was different from the oni. We could compare the little woman's perceptions to the students' world views, and then compare the students' worldviews to that of people in Asia. This could introduce us into learning about Japanese customs, specifically social customs. The overlying theme would be that difference isn't bad, just unique and something new.
- Before or after reading "The Funny Little Woman", we could read the tale that this story was originally derived from Lafcadio Hearn. We could then make Venn diagrams to compare and contrast the two texts. Afterwards, the student could write their own versions of t "The Funny little Woman" and compare and contrast their version to the two other texts.
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/theclassroomgallery/home/the-reading-nook/genre/the-funny-little-woman
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