The case of the marble monster and other stories

by I.G. Edmonds

“If you were a judge, would punish a man for stealing a smell? order a barber to give an ox a shave? call in a willow tree as a witness to a crime? Judge Ooka does all these things. And when Ooka commands, let the thief and the cheat beware!” (from back cover)

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Childrens, Mystery, Japan, Collections, Historical

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family Classic; Ooka the wise deliberates many cases. My favorite: The judgement in the case of the stolen smell: The fee for the price of a stolen smell is the sound of money being passed from one hand to the other.

[Fen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one as a kid and when I stumbled across a copy recently, I could recall really enjoying it, but nothing more about it. So, of course I had to read it again! It's a delightful collection of clever fables that always reminded me a bit, at least in tone, of the Tales of Juan Malo I heard as a child on Guam (the main characters really have very little in common, other than using their wits to pull clever tricks, but they still strike me as similar in a lot of ways... it may just be the case of both being witty folktales).

[Chip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent excellent excellent - I read this as a second grader and forty years later still think of the stories. My children loved the stories because *they make you think*! I hope my copy survives long enough to read to my grandchildren (dare I say great-grandchildren?) This book is probably out of print but if you ever get a chance to read it make sure you do.

[Jayanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a kid - my paperback is disintegrating. A collection of Judge Ooka stories. I especially like the case of the stolen smell.

[Carolynn Olmstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little book of stories that will leave kids and adults alike pondering.
This is a book I feel everyone should read at least once in thier life. It's filled with a variety of lessons and morals that I think can easily be applied to everyday life. The greatest moral of all was Ooka's drive to get justice for all. My personal favorite was Ooka and the Shattering Solution. Who doesn't love a poetic justice story? I loved the way this book gave a glips into the history and culture of Japan. The thing I find most enjoyable of all is that these things actually happened. Who would have thought? If you are fond of tricky situations, cunning solutions, and endearing characters, this is the perfect book for you.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

So OK, so it's a kids' book and I still go back and reread it occasionally, so what? The characters are great fun and Ooka is the smartest judge on the bench in any country OR century :) Paying for the smell of fish with the sound of money is genius.

[Ken Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a kid. It's still so delightful and amusing as always. I love how crafty Ooka is. His adventures are a lot of fun.

[Kurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these stories more than 50 years ago, when I was probably in 6th grade. I enjoyed them a lot. Judge Ooka seemed so clever as he delivered his wise decisions. The case of the stolen smell is the one that I remember to this day.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this at a used book store and loved these short stories. Can you steal a smell? And if so, how do you punish the thief? Ooka uses his wits to resolve difficult cases presented to him as a judge and always gets to a fair result. Charming and timeless.

[Mary R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying to remember the title of this book for years! I bought it from Scholastic Books when I was in elementary school and loved it. I read and re-read it many times. I'm so glad to have found it. It's definitely a wonderful book for kids. It lets kids learn about medieval Japan while enjoying the mysteries.

[Kidsbookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must own, if you can find it!

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom had this book in elementary school decades ago. It accompanied her faithfully through her youth and she passed it to me. It was one of my favorite childhood books too. As a child, I read it more times than I could count. I recently re-discovered it, and my love for it remains!

Ooka the Judge is a “King Solomon” type figure in 1600s Japan. This book is full of child-friendly short stories of how Ooka makes just, clever, wise decisions inside (and outside) his court. The stories are fun, include clever twists, and always have a great moral.

[Peggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was introduced to Ooka the Wise by a Japanese American friend while I was attending library school many years ago. The one story I heard, Ooka and the Stolen Smell, was wonderful, memorable, and very worthy of storytelling. I have been telling it ever since. This book is full of similar short stories about the marvelous judge Ooka, and his ability to use his wisdom to sleuth out the answer to any mystery. Charming!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had a copy of this since elementary school, and I never tire of reading it. I always liked stories about characters who win through smarts or by using an unconventional approach, and Judge Ooka is certainly one of those. This book also sparked in me a lifelong interest in Japanese culture. I really don't think I can pick a favorite story, they're all great!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book as a kid! It describes the court cases brought before Ooka, a famous 17th century Japanese judge and how he becomes a "Sherlock Holmes" to render a just verdict. I reread it every few years just for fun.

[Rosangela Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating. Intelligent. Funny. A beautiful witty lesson in each story.

[CK · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Ken Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The classic stories of a wily judge from feudal Japan are still pretty fun. Gotta love Ooka's clever way of solving problems and meting out justice

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading older Scholastic middle grade books. This one is a collection of Japanese folk tale type stories. Overall, a fun read with nice illustrations.

[Arwen Baggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book so much.
The short stories are interesting and funny, and a lot of Judge Ooka's solutions are quite clever.
I really enjoyed reading this when I was younger, and I still am very fond of it.
I would certainly reccomend this.

[Jessica Guard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
I found this book to be a phenominal children's book. I truly enjoyed the little tales of Ooka the Wise. Each case that Ooka judged had an interesting rule or bizarre way to discover the truth. One of my favorite cases was when Ooka ruled that a poor man was guilty of stealing smells from a restaurant below his house to make his food more appealing. As punishment, Ooka made him pour the only change the man had from his right hand into his left (so the man technically kept his money.) Ooka fined him the sound of money, and nothing else. There are several cases of Ooka outsmarting a criminal, even other well-known judges. Ooka took cases from splitting a horse in half, adding taxes on the number of doors in a house to rebuild the orphanage, an honest thief that stole only what he needed to survive and intended on giving everything back as he could, and many other cases. Each case is only a few pages and quick to read. There are pictures to illlustrate each case, though the pictures do not have many details and have no color. The illustrator utilized pencil drawings to compliment the text and allows the reader an opportunity to visualize the scene.

Response:
EDCI 311 Connections:This book deserves a 5 star rating for many reasons. Throughout the book, all six criteria for outstanding children's literature according to our text book have been met in one or more cases. The six standards are: expand awareness, doesn't overly teach or moralize, tells the truth, embodies quality, has integrity, and shows originality (TMY, 2010, p.9).
Personal Connections: I found myself constantly thinking of how I would respond at the end of each case, and what my punishments would be. Edmonds does an excellent job of keeping the reader's attention by having humorous cases or sentences. I think it's natural for a person to decide what's fair.

Classroom Connections:
I think a really fun activity that my class could do is to make up pretend cases and have each of the students either act it out in groups or even journal their responses/final sentencings. This would give them some pretend authority and allow them freedom to have fun with the book. I could also have them illustrate their favorite case and summarize what happened in the case. This could enhance their reading comprehension skills in a fun way.


Text Complexity (Found at www.scholastic.com/bookwizard)
Lexile level: Not available
Guided Reading Level: Not available
Grade level: PK-3rd
I think this would be a perfect for reading out loud in a PK/K/first grade classroom. In my opinion, it would be appropriate for second graders to read independently by the middle of the school year.

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love mini-mysteries as well as folk tales, so this book has become a favorite very quickly. Judge Ooka is an endearing character: a stately, powerful old magistrate with compassion for even the lowest of the low. Ooka sneakily uses his cleverness to find ways around unfair laws and give cruel, rich offenders what they deserve.

Though this edition needs some updating on the Japanese history and language used within ("Edo" is spelled "Yedo" and hakama are incorrectly defined as a robe), its introductory details to "Old Japan" are interesting and inspire further research.

Each of the 17 stories in the collection stands alone; an old tale told to pass the time spent around the kotatsu in winter. Whether the Honorable Judge is slyly punishing selfish merchants, tricking his grandson into learning a lesson, or even rescuing a young servant girl from a death sentence, the stories are easy to read and fascinating for readers of any age.

[Rennard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book especially for 6 - 8 years old. Good for teaching lofe lessons and imparting a different cultural perspective than a Eurocentric/American one.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

So OK, so it's a kids' book and I still go back and reread it occasionally, so what? The characters are great fun and Ooka is the smartest judge on the bench in any country OR century :)

[Peter Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are great, another book from when I was younger and more easily pleased

[Peter Tierney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I have fond memories of, I think my sister has our copy. The short stories are memorable.

[David Nisui · Rating 5 out of 5]

maximum childhood nostalgia

[Raja99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why I reread this book: I hadn't planned to, but