The Funny Little Woman

by Arlene Mosel, Blair Lent (Illustrator), 汪培珽 (Translator)

In this Caldecott Medal-winning tale set in Old Japan, a lively little woman who loves to laugh pursues her runaway dumpling—and must outwit the wicked three-eyed oni when she lands in their clutches.
 
“The pictures are in perfect harmony with the humorous mood of the story. . . . It’s all done with a commendable amount of taste, imagination, and style.”— School Library Journal (starred review)
 
“A beautifully convincing tale.”— The New York Times Book Review
 
“Using elements of traditional Japanese art, the illustrator has made marvelously imaginative pictures.”— The Horn Book
 
“Lent’s pictures are a lively blend of finely detailed, delicate drawings and rip-roaring good humor.”— The Boston Globe
 
“A good read-aloud with lots of suspense.”— Learning
 

ALA Notable Children’s Book
Child Study Association Book of the Year
The Horn Book Fanfare

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Japan, Fiction, Fantasy, Folklore, Asia

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Arlene Tichy Mosel was a American author of children's literature who was best-known for her illustrated books Tikki Tikki Tembo, a retelling of a Chinese folk tale, and the award-winning The Funny Little Woman, which was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1973.

She was born as Arlene Tichy on August 27, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio to Edward J. Tichy, an engraver and Marie Fingulin Tichy. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942, and later attended Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) where she graduated with a Master of Science in Library Science degree in 1959. She married sales engineer Victor H. Mosel on December 26, 1942, with whom she had three children; Nancy Mosel Farrar, Joanne and James.

Mosel had been an assistant in the children's department at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, before becoming an associate professor of library science at Case Western Reserve University. She was also an assistant coordinator of Children's Services at the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Her book Tikki Tikki Tembo, published by Holt in 1968 and with illustrations by Blair Lent, was presented as a retelling of a traditional Chinese story about a boy whose rescue after falling into a well was delayed due to his extremely lengthy name. The book was recognized as an American Library Association Notable Book and was recognized that year with the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. In 1997, the book was selected by The New York Times on its list of the 50 best children's books of the previous 50 years. It has been suggested however that the story probably originated from the Japanese folktale Jugemu instead of a Chinese folktale.

In another collaboration with illustrator Blair Lent, Mosel's 1972 story The Funny Little Woman, published by E. P. Dutton, won the Caldecott Medal for illustration, and was recognized as an Honor Book in the 1974 Hans Christian Andersen International Children's Book Awards and was a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award honor list selection.

Mosel died in May 1996 in Indianapolis.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/arlene...

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a strange and amazing book. This is so different from the other Caldecott’s I’ve been reading recently and I love this story. Where has this book been hiding. It’s obvious to me that I’m drawn to Asian mythology right now and I want to learn more about it. This is perfect.

A little old woman lives by herself making little rice balls. She has a beautiful little home. One day her rice ball rolls off the table into a crack. The floor gives way and the woman falls down into a tunnel. The neat thing the illustrator does is the whole time she is underground we can see her in relation to her house. There is a row of statues called Jizo Sama and I assume they are keeping the evil spirits underground. They warn her to turn back for the evil Oni are at the end of the road. The woman laughs and runs on not being afraid of Oni. She is enslaved by them and they have her make rice balls with a magic paddle that turns one grain of rice into a potful.

The ending is much fun and I love the little twists. It really is such a different story. The art has this green hue to it almost that feels like moss, something old, but very beautiful and cool. I love it.

The children enjoyed this book too. Not as much as I did, but the nephew laughed at the Oni and the woman who always laughed tee hee hee hee. He gave this 4 stars. The niece wanted her to listen to the Jizo Sama and this story made her somewhat nervous. She was happy with the ending though. She gave it 3 stars.

[Julie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was a partial family affair.
My 7-year-old: "Scary."
My 9-year-old: "Weird."
Me: "The Caldecott??"

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading many folktales from Japan for many years now, but if there was one Japanese folktale that I was pleasantly surprised in liking, it would be “The Funny Little Woman,” retold by Arlene Mosel along with illustrations by Blair Lent and has won the Caldecott Medal. This story is truly fun and fascinating to read for anyone who is a fan of Japanese folktales!

In this story, there was once a little woman who had the habit of laughing at every single thing. One day, she was making her rice dumplings when one of the dumplings fell through a hole in the ground. When the little woman tried to get it, she ended up falling into the hole and into the underground home of the wicked Oni. The Oni wanted the little woman to cook rice for them and even though the little woman cooked for them, she was starting to get homesick and she tried to find ways to get back home.

Arlene Mosel’s retelling of this ancient Japanese story was truly hilarious and intense at the same time as I loved the little woman’s adventures in the Oni world! I really loved the way that Arlene Mosel wrote the little woman as being a truly unique character as she never stops laughing, which is a characteristic I found endearing and she has no fear of the dreaded Oni. I also loved the tension that the Oni had brought to the story as I was seriously sitting on the edge of my seat trying to see if the little woman would be able to escape from the Oni. Blair Lent’s artwork is truly creative as the colorings of the artwork splits up between the little woman’s home above ground and the Oni world underground. I find it surprising that the Oni world is in color while the little woman’s home above ground is in black and white colorings (although earlier on in the book, the little woman’s home above ground was still in color until she fell into the Oni world). I found this transition between the two worlds to be extremely creative as we are able to see effectively how much time the little woman spent in the Oni world while life goes on above the Oni world. I also loved the appearance of the Oni themselves as they look truly frightening as they are shown in blue colorings and have three eyes on their heads and sharp teeth, which shows how threatening they could be to the main protagonist of the story.

Parents should know that the Oni might scare smaller children, especially for the fact that they kidnapped the little woman and forced her to cook for them. Parents might want to use this story as an opportunity to teach their children about the dangers of approaching unknown places alone and how they should deal with these situations.

Overall, “The Funny Little Woman” is a truly fantastic tale about the danger of wondering into strange places that both parents and kids will enjoy for many years! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the scenes with the Oni might scare smaller children.



Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to students K-6 grade. I told them to watch for the second story-line told just in the illustrations involving a little man and his dog. We discussed the wordless scene when the little woman arrives at the house where the wicked Oni live. I asked them to tell me what the artist did to show the reader that it was underground. Their replies: "There are tree roots." "You can tell its dark because the lanterns are glowing." "He used the color of dirt, brown not black." And my favorite, from a first-grader, "The shape of the picture with the jagged edges looks like a cavern." We also discussed the use of curving lines to give energy and movement to the water.

After the discussion, I explained the term "tableau", divided the students into groups, and asked them to decide which scene they wanted to portray. I instructed them to be ready in 3 minutes to display their picture. The younger students also did tableaus, only with more guidance. I began by asking for a volunteer to show the class how they could portray a boat with their body, and went on from there. Since we have a stepped kiva in our library, we did some lovely scenes--the house on the hill with the little man and his dog approaching, a table, dumpling rolling along a path, Jizo statues, a river, and of course the funny little woman in a boat and wicked Oni swallowing river water. We had great fun!

Thanks go to Sylvia Munson and those at USU who put on workshops about using various art forms (drama, music, dance. . .) in teaching, and the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Foundation who provide the funds.

[Andrea Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

by Andrea Renee Cox

This was a cute Japanese legend about a little woman who likes to make rice dumplings. There were mentions of Japanese gods and evil mythical creatures. Great conversations about the cultures of different countries could be started because of this book.

I was not compensated for my honest review.

[Jade Lovgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was girl, and my children have enjoyed it too. It's a great story read aloud with an animated voice. Be creative in your storytelling, your children will love it.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to the Grands.

By the same author who did Ticki Ticki Timbo, which we, as a family, have ADORED for ages.

Interesting and unusual stories, great illustrations.

Think I need to own a copy, could read this one again and again (like Ticki).

[Yolanda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is unusual and quirky enough to call for multiple readings.

[Jennifer Honahnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Funny Little woman is a story that takes place in old Japan. A woman who liked to laugh made dumplings out of rice, one day she dropped a dumpling and it fell into a hole in the ground. As she tried to get it the hole got bigger and she fell in it, underground were statues of gods who saw her dumpling roll by. The gods warned her not to get her dumpling because at the end of the road lived a wicked god “Oni”. As the woman laughed she kept going and was captured by the wicked god, he kept her and made her cook for him using a magic paddle. This magic paddle was very useful to her because it made a lot of rice from just one grain.

The setting of the book takes place in old Japan where they hold the belief in gods in everyday life and interacted with them. The illustrations depict an underground world with traditional Japanese temples that the gods live in, and the old woman is dressed in traditional Japanese style. The plot is the mystical happenings when the woman follows her dimpling into the underworld and is captured by the wicked god who has her cook for him. As she tries to escape the funny little women makes them laugh and the woman is able to get away with the magic paddle. When she returns home she makes dumplings with her magic paddle faster than ever and sells them and becomes the richest woman in Japan.

The text in the book does not have any borders and is often placed on one whole side of the page and the illustration on the opposite page. The illustration of the village is a sketched drawing that has no color to it, when the underworld is shown it is set below the village and is in color it is often spread across both pages. One picture in the center of the book is shown as a double page spread with no words. This book is a myth, it originated in the beliefs in the Japanese culture and has a supernatural element involved. This story was handed down and retold by the writer Arlene Mosel. The funny little woman was able to make rice dumplings a lot faster because of her magic paddle this explains the natural phenomena that helped the woman become rich because she had help from the gods. I really liked this book because the woman was not trying to be funny when she escaped but she made the wicked gods laugh and was able to get away, in the end she benefited by being captured by the gods.

[Paige Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) This book is about a little old woman who is cooking rice and she drops a rice ball down into a big hole in the ground. She is determined to go and get her rice ball so she climbs down into the hole and is greeted by many Jizo. They all warned her of the oni that would come and find her if she was not careful, but she kept on going trying to find her rice ball. When all of the sudden an oni smelt her and snatched her up, taking her back to the oni houses. He said he would not hurt her unless she cooked all of them rice with a magic paddle that only needed one grain of rice to produce thousands. Months went by, the little woman cooked and cooked, until one day she decided to escape. She tried escaping on a boat, when the oni saw and drank all of the water making the woman fall in the mud. When she fell, they all started laughing allowing all of the water to drain back into the river, where she made her way home. The little woman kept the spoon and made rice balls to sell them to all of Japan.
2) Age Range: 2-5 years old, Grade Level: Preschool-Kindergarten
3) Appropriate classroom use of this book could be used in History of rice coming from Japan and what the Jizo are to the Japanese people
4) Individual students who might benefit from reading this book would be students that enjoy humor books that make them laugh and myths.
5) Small group use of this book could be to have all different culture books in each literature circle and compare and contrast the different cultures portrayed in each book throughout the literature circle and as a whole class.
6) Whole class use of this book could be to make your students laugh from the actions of the funny little woman, and have them predict what is going to happen next before you turn each page, practicing cause and effect because this book has many turning points.
7) Related Books: Tikki Tikki Tembo, The Story of Ferdinand, The Five Chinese Brothers
8) There is an audible version of this book available on Amazon for less than $1, and some versions on YouTube of people reading the book.

[Jose · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "Funny Little Woman", I found the story to be entertaining. The woman in the story loses her dumplings and attempts to get them back but falls into a hole on the ground. The illustrations in the story also got my attention where the main focus of the story is in color (the lady underground and dealing with the onis), whereas the less focus of the story is in black and white (the lady's house above the ground). As the story progresses, the seasons changes and you can see the lady's house get covered with snow and then covered with flowers towards the end of the story. The "tee hee hee" I thought was funny, but I also saw it as a possible stereotype opportunity for some children.

I think children will enjoy hearing/reading this story. It'll show them that it is possible to laugh, even though they might be in a tough situation. Readers will like the pictures throughout the story too.

[Casey Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Funny Little Woman was making dumplings when one of them rolled out of her kitchen and into an unknown hole in the ground. She went into the hole and realized she was in a ‘new world’ that she had never known before. She meets the scary Oni, whom brings her back to his house. She was given one grain of rice and a magic spoon that multiplied the grains to create enough rice to feed the house full of Onis. After the woman had spent many days at the Oni’s house, she decided to escape, taking their magic spoon with them. Once back to her house she was able to produce enough rice dumplings to sell to all of the townspeople and become rich. There are almost two stories being told in this book through the pictures; the story about losing the rice dumpling and finding the new world, and the story of how her house became overgrown with plants while the woman was gone. I loved the simplistic color tone throughout the illustrations and how they shared the storytelling with the text.

[Shoaa Aljohani · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review for this book will look at both the positive and negative aspects.Firstly,in terms of positive it is a funny story as the cover shows it attracts the attention of children in terms of intended audience the book is aimed at kids 5-12 years of age.The main character is from Japan so the glimpse into her world promotes cultural awareness.The author used both narrative and dialogue,which is a very important point for each story.It is enjoyable,not prolonged the plot is feast-paced complete elements the language is simple and devoid of complexity.The second point in terms defects it is images are not accurate,and not high quality,although the book is high quality.The author leaves large empty spaces,which did not serve the story

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a funny little story, tee he he he, about a little old woman who outsmarts some wicked oni. It's an interesting story, and thankfully the illustrations do not portray the oni as being too scary. Otherwise, it might not have been a good choice to read at bedtime. Our girls liked the story, especially how the old woman laughs all the time.

This book was selected as one of the books for the October 2015 - Quarterly Caldecott discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

CALDECOTT

I laughed a whole lot during this book, but mostly because I was thinking in my head, "what is going on?" It starts out with the little woman's dumpling, and then her laugh "tee-he-he-he" on every other page, to her escaping from the wicked oni and becoming the richest woman in Japan that kept me smiling all the way through. The book is light-hearted and easy to read and follow. The pictures were done well with detail, but the oni reminded me of the illustrations in "Where the Wild Things Are". I would definitely recommend this book to any kids between the ages of 3 and 9, I think they would enjoy it as much as I did.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what's so funny, or if this woman is one of those people who laugh at everything (I'm suspecting this, which annoys me. I like when people have reason to laugh because otherwise she seems rather mindless) but this story was definitely very random. Chasing a dumpling into the underworld seems like a bad idea from the get-go, and then ignoring all the troll warnings leads to the inevitable capture by trolls. There is a certain amount of cleverness to the ending, and I do like the drawings, but overall this book was not one that thrilled me the way some Caldecott books have.

[Alexys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The story was funny and kept me interested. I loved how when I read the book, I kept saying Te-he-he-he becuase it started to make me laugh which made the audience also laugh. I think this aspect made the story a lot of fun to read and get the kids interested. The pictures gave me mixed feelings. I loved the black and white pictures because they seemed so simple but still very pretty. The colored ones seemed rushed and not nearly as simple. I found the pictures with color hard to look at.

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not TikiTiki, but it's still fun and worth reading.

[Kristen LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Funny Little Woman" is a Japanese folktale retold by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent. "The Funny Little Woman" won a Caldecott Medal for its illustrations in 1973 and features elements of traditional Japanese art styles. As the story begins, the reader first sees a colorful rendering of the woman's hut portrayed in acrylics. The story starts to unfold when a woman loses her dumpling. When she chases the dumpling, she falls below ground into a secret tunnel. Her home above ground becomes an inked black and white sketch and the underground tunnel becomes the focus of a splash of color. The little woman looks around the tunnel and finds herself surrounded by statues of the gods. The gods warn her to not go further into the underground tunnel because the "oni" live there. Even though the gods warn her, the little woman ventures down into the tunnel and is greeted by an oni. The wicked oni does not want to hurt the little woman but wants her to cook for them. She graciously cooks tons of rice for them but tries to sneak off with the magic paddle and return home. The little woman does not get far before the oni catch up to her and drink the water from the river so that she gets stuck. The "funny" part of the title comes in when the oni find the woman's struggling to walk through the mud hilarious and they laugh so hard that they spit up the water they drank. Their laughing causes the water to rise back up and allow the woman to escape. Upon arriving safely back home, the underground tunnel becomes the black and white sketches and the little woman's home is filled with color again. Her "hehehehehe" brings warmth throughout the woman's journey to save a dumpling that seems to never be found although she ends up with a magic paddle that helps her to cook tons of rice so she can make way more dumplings.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caldecott 1973. Fantasy story about a Japanese woman that falls down a hole and gets taken to where the wicked Oni live. But she escapes. She is very light-hearted and seems to giggle at everything. A bit of a strange story. A bit word-heavy for the little-kid age bracket for which this book is written. Pictures are OK, but not as appealing as I expect on the Caldecott winner list.

3.25*

[Annalise Kraines · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this were lovely, especially the pictures of the woman's house! We've been learning a lot about context of folktales and who story "belongs" to, and I still don't know how I feel about it. But yeah. I digress.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this folk tale about an old Japanese lady that travels to the underworld in search of her missing dumpling. There is mention of the oni demons and the Jizo (talking statues of deities).

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly one book whose illustrations as well as its cover will stand out to the reader even after you say "The End" and closed the book. In a sense this was probably one of my first books that took place outside the normal childhood backgrounds of books while it was probably part of that, which had me charmed in its presentation.

Basically the premise of the book goes along the adventures of a small woman who makes rice dumplings and follows the one that rolled off from her table. It also searches at the same time the idea where laughter may be good for you or not.

The writing is a bit more in the book and of course with the few Japanese words it may be harder for very young readers but older readers shouldn't have much problems. Just again there may need to be help.

And although the book states it is a folklore of Japan I still haven't come upon this particular story in my reading of Japanese mythoi and folklore so I wouldn't vouch for it. Just take the story for what it is, which is a story and remember to enjoy following the other untold story that is taking place above their heads.

[MargaretAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd little book but definitely a hit with Daughter who enjoyed looking at the pictures and narrating the story out loud. The illustrations have a "Where the Wild Things Are" feel to them.

Q: What's your favorite thing about this book?
A: The Oni! (Oni are trolls in Japanese folklore)

Q: Would you make dinner for the Oni?
A: No way!

Q: If a hole opened up in our kitchen, would you go down the tunnel to check it out?
A: No . . . unless I had a Batman flashlight!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Japanese folktake about a "funny little woman" who find herself in a bit of trouble after she decides to chase one her rice dumplings that rolled away out of her kitchen one day. As I started to read the story, I thought is was going to be a different version of "The Gingerbread Man" but it turned out to be quite different.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling of the Japanese folk tale originally written by Patrick Lafcadio Hearn aka Koizumi Yakumo about a woman who chases a run away rice dumpling into the underworld, and is captured by the Oni who make her cook from them. The woman escapes from the Oni and went on to be the richest woman in all of Japan.

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very clever illustrations that include the funny little woman's house while she is away underground cooking for the evil oni.

[Lauralee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute bedtime story

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird fun little book.

[Cosette]

Tee-he-he-he-he!