Once under the cherry blossom tree;: An old Japanese tale

by Allen Say

Allen Say retells with wit and vitality a favorite joke in Japan about a wicked landlord who swallows a cherry pit and soon has a cherry tree growing on top of his head! "Allen Say retells a classic makura -- a short story told in Japanese joke houses to warm up the audience -- with the sharpness, vigor and timing of a stand-up comic." -- Publishers Weekly

Genres: Picture Books, Japan, Childrens, Fiction, Folk Tales, Juvenile, Asia

31 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Allen Say is one of the most beloved artists working today. He is the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, and also won a Caldecott Honor and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for THE BOY OF THE THREE-YEAR NAP (written by Dianne Snyder). Many of Allen’s stories are derived from his own experiences as a child. His other books include THE BICYCLE MAN, TEA WITH MILK, and TREE OF CRANES, hailed by The Horn Book in a starred review as “the achievement of a master in his prime.” Allen’s recent book, ERIKA-SAN, received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this story featured in a reading textbook when I was 6, and it's been a part of my inner mythos ever since. Is that the right phrase? Inner mythos? Anyhow, when my daughter swallowed a cherry pit, this story and the pictures in it immediately came to mind. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book available from my library as an ebook, but I absolutely have to own a copy for myself.

The story is a classic Japanese tale about grumbly old man who finds a cherry tree growing out the top of his head after he swallows a cherry pit. He eventually pulls it out, creating a crater on top of his head which fills with rain water. Eventually, his head turns into a fish pond. In the end, the disagreeable old man gets his just deserts for being such a rotten human being.



Luckily, swallowing a cherry pit only results in having a tree grow on your head if you're a bad sort of person. Right? :P

[Grace Noto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Under the Cherry Blossom Tree
Author: Allen Say
Illustrator: Allen Say
Genre: Myth
Theme(s): Chinese culture, fantasy, nature
Opening line/sentence: “There were eggs in every bird’s nest, the air buzzed with honeybees, and cherry trees bloomed all at once.”
Brief book summary: In Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, everyone in the village is happy that spring has arrived, except for the grouchy landlord. One day while eating cherries, he swallowed a pit, leading a cherry tree to grow out of the top of his head.

Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Name of reviewer: Jami Schwarzwalder
Name of Source: Children’s Literature
Link: http://www.clcd.com/#/bookdetail/1/0/...
Short blurb: A Japanese landlord plagues his tenants for every penny they have. Yet the tenants still find reason to celebrate once a year at the spring festival where the grumpy landlord finds no pleasure but the taste of ripe cherries. In this traditional Japanese folktale--retold by Allen Say--we are brought back to a Japanese joke house where stories of humor and wit could be heard, and where this short tale would be heard by all ages to prepare them for the long evening of stories to come. As in Tree of Cranes and Grandfather s Journey, Allen Say does a beautiful job of bringing this tale into written form, this time, with exquisite black and white drawings and the pacing of an old Japanese storyteller. It is great for anyone exploring Japanese culture, or looking for a humorous tale to get children laughing--here about a miserly old man who has a cherry tree growing out the top of his head. It is a perfect read aloud to keep kids guessing and laughing.

Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Name of Source: Kirkus
Link: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
Short blurb:
This traditional Japanese joke/tale (called a "pillow" or makura according to Say's introduction) proceeds from the ridiculous to the outlandish in relating the fate of a stingy old landlord who swallows a cherry pit. Furious with the beautiful tree which then grows from his head, he pulls it out by the roots -- leaving behind a large hole which fills with rain and becomes a home for fish. Sure enough, one afternoon while he is asleep (sitting up) in his garden, some village boys decide to go fishing in his head, and sure enough again the landlord wakens and starts to chase them. But then he trips and flies "head-over-heels" and falls feet first into the hole in his head. . . and only a pond (full of magnificent fish) is left of him. Say avoids the temptation to ham it up, and his misty fine line illustrations, which reflect the Japanese setting, help to make the far-fetched developments dreamily believable.

Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The reviewer from Kirkus said, “Say avoids the temptation to ham it up, and his misty fine line illustrations, which reflect the Japanese setting, help to make the far-fetched developments dreamily believable.” I completely agree with this because I feel that a lot the time the authors of children’s books feel the need to make their stories as interesting as possible by adding a bunch of crazy colors and elements. I thought that this book was delightful because I was able to focus more on what was happening as opposed to the pictures.

Evaluation of Literary Elements:
I thought that the illustrations in Under the Cherry Blossom Tree were very nice and went perfectly with the tone of the book. All of the drawings were in black and white and were done in a traditional Chinese style, which was very appropriate for a classic story like this one. For such a silly story about a man having a tree growing out of his head, I weirdly thought that the understated pictures made it less far fetched.

Consideration of Instructional Application:
I think that this is one of those interesting books where there is a great moral behind the story. I would say that the moral behind this story would be to be kind to others. I think I could extend this book after a read aloud by having a class discussion about different moral lessons. Then, during independent writing time, I will have my students choose a moral lesson and then write a story that relates to that lesson.

[John W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot believe this book has such a low overall rating. I read it many times to my daughter. I could never read it without laughing. Even today, twenty years later, it will make me laugh just thinking about it.

As a father, this is clearly a "Must read" book for your children. I say that because kids need to be exposed to material like this to expand their imagination and humour. It is not creepy, as so many have stated... that is if you have been exposed to these kind of playful ideas.

It is a top flight book, beautiful line drawing illustrations. I am planning to buy it because it has so many fond memories.

[Sierra Dirksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was strange from start to end. It is about a grumpy, old man man that one day swallowed a cherry pit and had a tree grow from his head. He got tired of people talking about his tree so he ripped it from his head. This lead him to having a whole in his head, which filled with water and fish. One day boys decided to fish from his head. As he was chasing the boys away, the old man tripped and became a pond in the ground. I loved how unique this story was. It was well written and well drawn.

[Kristin Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of this story before and found it to be very funny. From this story, children can be taught a lesson of treat others the way that you would want to be treated and be nice and caring of all people. In this story a landlord is extremely rude to his tenants. He accidentally swallows a cherry pit and then everything goes downhill for him from there. Children and adults will find great humor in this story.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always thought this was an interesting story. I remember my dad reading me this story when I was younger. My brothers would always tell me not to eat the seeds because you'll have that fruit growing in your tummy! I was always nervous to eat seeded watermelon when I was younger! I like how the theme of this story is be happy!

[Torrie Heller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Type: fiction
Genre: fairy tail
Awards: none
Summary: In this book there is a really mean landlord that owns the majority of a village in Japan. Every month this man raises rent on the people that live in the areas he owns. One day he swallows a cherry blossom tree seed. He decides its fine, and chooses to ignore it. One day a sprout pops out of his head that grows into a large tree popping out of the top of his head. The children love the tree and always want to play in it. One day the landlord gets tired of the fact that his tree brings joy to the people and so he decides to yank it out of his head. When he does so it leaves a larger crater in the top of his head. The rain begins to fill his crater with water and it becomes a pond and coi begin to live in this mans head. One day the kids decide to fish in his head. He wakes up and catches them. When this happens he goes to chase them, he trips over a rock and falls feet first into the pond on his head which eats him up and all that is left of the man is a pond full of coi.
Critique: This book has a very strange story line I really don't like how unrealistic it is.
Question: Do you live somewhere that has a landlord? Do your parents have to pay monthly to live in an area? Has there ever been someone that you hated so much that you wished this would happen to?
Craft Element: I would use this to teach fairy tales from other countries. I would have the student to to see if they can come up with another fairy tale that has the same or a similar moral.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this aloud as a family, but no one really liked it much. It could be because our children aren't familiar with Japanese folk tales, but I'm not sure. Their thoughts were that it was kind of weird.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid — I remember my parents checking it out multiple times from the library for me. Now, through the powers of NoveList and interlibrary loan, I was able to find a copy of it! It's just as strange and fun as I remembered.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the older books by this author. I like his more modern books better. But this was a nice retelling of a not-very-nice folktale. As always, a lot of words for a picture book. And of course the art was still good. 3.5 of 5

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun and made me laugh out loud. It's a very imaginative take on a Scrooge-type character and what could happen to him in his grumpiness. Reading this aloud to children with a smile would help them feel the fun and not his grumpy demeanor.

[pati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always nice to read another culture‘s folktales.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very far fetched, but hat is why I love it. This book starts out with a grumpy man who grows a cherry tree out of his head.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great illustrations and nice story

[حسناء · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love old Japanese stories , and this one here is so funny and beautiful .

[Miranda]

No rating because I have nothing to say other than this kind of weirdness can come from no place other than Japan lol

[Dorrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful Japanese folk tale, exquisite artwork and full of absurd humour which will have you chuckling away throughout! An unusual, intriguing and hugely satisfying read!

[Chris Lutz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, and Old Japanese Tale
Author: Allen Say
Illustrator:
Genre: Non-European Folktale, Japanese Folktale
Theme(s): Treat others how you want to be treated, what goes around comes around, fiction
Opening line/sentence: There once lived an old landlord in a small village in Japan.
Brief Book Summary: A wicked landlord takes advantage of his residents. Once strange things begin to happen to him, he doesn’t like it when the others begin to take advantage of him though.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Jami Schwarzwalder (Children's Literature)
A Japanese landlord plagues his tenants for every penny they have. Yet the tenants still find reason to celebrate once a year at the spring festival where the grumpy landlord finds no pleasure but the taste of ripe cherries. In this traditional Japanese folktale--retold by Allen Say--we are brought back to a Japanese joke house where stories of humor and wit could be heard, and where this short tale would be heard by all ages to prepare them for the long evening of stories to come. As in Tree of Cranes and Grandfather s Journey, Allen Say does a beautiful job of bringing this tale into written form, this time, with exquisite black and white drawings and the pacing of an old Japanese storyteller. It is great for anyone exploring Japanese culture, or looking for a humorous tale to get children laughing--here about a miserly old man who has a cherry tree growing out the top of his head. It is a perfect read aloud to keep kids guessing and laughing. 2005 (orig. 1997), Walter Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin, $15.00 and $5.95. Ages 4 to 8.
(PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Co. (Boston:), PUBLISHED: [1997?].(Houghton Mifflin Co. (Boston:), PUBLISHED: [1997?].))
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Publisher's Weekly
"Allen Say retells a classic makura -- a short story told in Japanese joke houses to warm up the audience -- with the sharpness, vigor and timing of a stand-up comic."
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I really didn't like this book all that much. I thought the story itself was a pretty good plot, but the illustrations were a bit too descriptive. Maybe the pictures took my attention away from the text. The other reviews say that it's funny, but the ending kind of lost me. I really enjoyed all the Japanese culture references it makes in the story though. I don't want to make it sound like the illustrations are bad, because in fact they are super detailed and well drawn, but they created a distraction for me and took me away from the story itself.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: I believe that the setting plays a key role in this story. A lot of the references made in the story are native to the Japanese origins. It takes place in a small village in Japan, and references culture such as cherry blossoms and carp fish. The author is from Japan before moving to California in his teenage years so there is a lot of Japanese culture that is mentioned in this book.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I think for my instructional application to this book I would like to decorate the room with a craft the kids make. I would like to see them research information and decorate cherry blossoms. Since there is a specific time each year that the cherry blossoms bloom, I think we could celebrate the same time to learn more about Japanese culture.

[Christy Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a child there was one book I would check out from the library. Over and over, I’d bring home Once Under the Cherry Blossom Tree. And that was back in the day when you’d write your name on the book’s library card. It was mostly my name. I remember sitting at my grandparents kitchen table, reading that book and laughing every time. Then I’d read it to anyone who would listen. I’d talk about all the absurd possibilities this book brought to mind.

What was this book?

Once Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, written and illustrated by Allen Say. It’s an old Japanese tale shared in joke houses to warm up an audience. In the story, a grumpy landlord sits under a cherry tree eating cherries while he watches everyone else having fun. He swallows a cherry pit and it works its way through his body to his head. Soon, a cherry tree begins to grow out of his head.

Now that alone would be enough fodder for children to work with. I warned people not to eat the pits. I daydreamed about birds nesting in the tree on his head. I wondered about the complications of going through doorways and other daily activities with a huge tree on your head.

The story continues to say that in a moment of frustration with some boys teasing him, the landlord pulled the tree out of his head. It left a hole that filled with water and fish came to live in it. He had to sit upright to keep his bed from getting wet.

This raised all kinds of other possibilities as a child. What if he got a fever and the water boiled? How did he bend over to pick something up?

The story is delightfully absurd, and the ending does not disappoint. I probably read it hundreds of time as a child.

As an adult, I long ago searched for the name and author and found the book was out of print. Off and on, I’d check again. At one point the book was in print again and I sighed for relief, but didn’t jump fast enough because it was soon out of print again. So I was delighted to discover the book is now available in Kindle version. When I read it again, it still delighted by childish imagination. It’s worth reading again and again, at any age.

I give Under the Cherry Blossom Tree by Allen Say five cups of love.

This review first appeared on my blog, ChristyBower.com.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This certainly is a very odd story, though I did like it. A Japanese landlord who is crabby nearly beyond belief swallows a cherry pit one day; as a result, a little tree takes root in his head and the following spring, the tree begins to blossom.

Tired of all the questions about the tree sprouting from his cranium (I can imagine that questions of this nature would not be few and far between in such a scenario), the mean man rips it right out of his head. This spontaneous uprooting leaves a hole in his head that naturally collects rainwater, though, and eventually fish begin to swim in the water. The coming of the fish is the first part of the ordeal that the mean man actually likes, because now he has an ever ready source of fish for food within arm's length. When a few boys from the area begin to secretly fish in the man's head while he dozes outside, however, the dour landlord finally gets his comeuppance.

Allen Say is a good artist and storyteller. Under the Cherry Blossom Tree is vastly different in style from Grandfather's Journey, for which Allen Say won the 1994 Caldecott Medal, but loyal readers of his books will probably enjoy this story.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

-Type of book & Literary Genre: fiction, folktale
-Awards:
-Summary: A old grumpy landlord is taking advantage of his residents, who are very poor, by raising their rent. The landlord swallows a cherry pit and a tree starts to grow from his head. He pulls the tree out in anger because his resident's enjoyed it and he was a grumpy old man. Once the tree is gone, it leaves a hole. When it rains, a puddle grows on his head with fish swimming around. The residents children tried to fish from his head, which does not please him. He hates his residents for trying to take advantage of him, which is ironic because he was taking advantage of his residents from the very beginning.
-Critique: This was a cute book, and I loved reading it. I love the fact that it was translated from an old Japanese folktale, which gives it character and makes it unique.
-Prompts or questions: What could the landlord have done differently? Is there a lesson we can learn from this story?
-Craft elements: This is a great book to use to talk about different cultures, like we did in class. Using children's literature from other parts of the world is a great way to get kids interested in other cultures.

[Jo Miller]

On old grumpy landlord is taking advantage of his residents but once the landlord swallows a cherry pit strange things started happening to him. First a tree starts to grow from his head, he pulls it out in anger as the residents were enjoying it. Then a puddle is on the top of his head and fish are swimming around. The residents children tried to fish from his head and again he gets upset. He does not like that they were taking advantage of him, but he was taking advantage of the residents by raising their rent every month.

[Rachel Otting]

A rude old man who jacked up peoples rent accidentally ate a cherry pit one day. The next day a cherry blossom tree grew from his head. He pulled the tree out and was left with a hole in his head. The hole filled dup with water and then he had fish. One boy and his friends would fish out of the old mans head when the man was sleeping. One day they got caught and when the man went to chase after the boys he fell and became a pond.

[Brittany Cullen]

This book was really cute with great pictures. all the villagers just dance their time away but one day a man eats a cherry pit and then becomes the most like man in the village because a cherry tree is growing on top of his head. It was a funny story and had neat pictures to go with the story. it is a different tale that would be fun for students to hear.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Japanese folktale brought to life by Allen Say's beautiful pen and ink drawings.
The inspiration for the cranky old man is a equally real-life cranky old landlord whose Say's family lived with for several years.

[Barkshire Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to pre-k to 2nd graders under the Cherry Blossoms on the National Mall while picnicking in front of the tidal basin. Perfect book for such an occasion! Great discussions with the kids too. And the simple but to the point illustrations were a plus.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this humorous story about a grumpy landlord, and how the people of the town react to his various "conditions" (including having a cherry tree grow out of his head!).

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book actually creeped me out. The mean old man ends up having a cherry tree growing out of his head. Ew.

[Samantha Tai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny tale about a miserly man who accidentally swallows a cherry pit and wakes up the next morning with a cherry tree growing out of his head.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations and the humor!