Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

This week I chose to read the Japanese Fairy Tales Unit. I really liked The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy story. That is what I chose to take notes over today. There is a lot of cool elements to this story that I hope to bring out in my retelling.

• Kintaro is like a child of the forest
• He has befriended many different animals and they watch over him
• Kintaro and the animals have quite a bit of dialogue
• It seems that the animals are his best friends
• I am surprised at how strong Kintaro truly is
• He is just a boy, but he is able to achieve incredible feats of strength
• Kintaro completely uprooted a tree to create a bridge across the river
• Kintaro was soon found by a general in the army
• He had seen what strength Kintaro possessed and brought him to the capital
• It was a bit sad to see Kintaro leaving his mother and friends in the forest
• The story did a good job in capturing the emotion of the moment
• Kintaro was trained to be the head of the Four Braves
• This was a testament to his strength and ability as a child
• I think I could even make my own story about Kintaro

After reading this story, I feel like there are a lot of possibilities. I could retell the upbringing of Kintaro. I could also create my own story about his adventures. The story ends with Kintaro beheading a monster in a cave. I could create a story from this and make it a great adventure that Kintaro embarks upon. I will try to brainstorm about this for the next couple of days.

(A statue of the Golden Boy, Kintaro. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography: The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Source: UnTextbook