Skip to main content

The Cat Who Went to Heaven


 The Cat Who Went to Heaven

By Elizabeth Coatsworth

Overview: This a story about a poor Artist who lived in Japan with his housekeeper. One day, when the housekeeper came back from the market, she did not bring food as usual, but a white cat. She had spots on her back, yellow eyes, and a stub for a tail. They named her "Good Fortune." After a couple of days of owning the cat, the high priest from their temple came to the Artist's house and commissioned him to paint a picture of Buddha's death. The Artist agreed and the priest left. The Artist spent the next three days imagining what Buddha's life must have been like and on the last day, he drew him. 

In the days that followed after that, the Artist imagined all of the different animals that Buddha's spirit had been in, according to the many stories he had heard, and he drew one after another. With each animal drawn, Good Fortune would look at the painting and seem pleased with it. However, she became more and more upset when she realized that she wouldn't be able to be drawn because, according to the stories, cats had rejected Buddha and his wisdom and were therefore not allowed into heaven. But in the end, the Artist drew a cat in the painting and Good Fortune was so overjoyed that she died. The painting was taken to the temple to be demolished for the heresy that it portrayed of cats going to heaven, but then something miraculous occurred. The painting changed and it was clear to all that Buddha was forgiving and compassionate and allowed Good Fortune passage to heaven.

This book is interesting as it submerges the reader in the Buddhist religion in Japan. It is a novel, but a 3rd-5th grader could read it easily as the chapters are of normal length and the writing is extremely repetitive. The stories of compassion and sacrifice in the book are very moving and would be a neat challenge for students to relate to.

Awards: The Newbery Medal


-The Green Eyed Reader

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit Written by Drew Daywalt & Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Overview: One day in class, a little boy named Duncan took out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them. Each letter was written by one of his crayons. The red crayon, the pink crayon, the green crayon, and so on. Each crayon had written Duncan about he felt in regards to their overuse or underuse in his drawings or other issues that they felt needed to be addressed. When Duncan was finished reading all of the letters he tired to think of a way to appease all of his crayons and decided to draw and incredibly creative picture with all of his crayons. Duncan got an A+ on his drawing! This book takes a comical look at creativity from a crayon's perspective. This entertaining book can be read by 2nd graders and would make such fun read aloud for children.  Awards: 2014-2015 Bluebonnet Award To order your own copy:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-day...
Post a Comment
Read more

Norman the Doorman

Norman the Doorman Written and Illustrated by Don Freeman Summary:  This book is about a small mouse named Norman. He is the "doorman" of an art museum. He shows his fellow mice friends all of the artifacts in the basement of the art museum, which is also where he lives. He never ventures to the upstairs of the art museum for fear of being caught by the security guards. These guards set traps in the basement for mice like Norman, but Norman is carful to disarm them so that he and his fellow mice do not become victims. He even takes the wire from the mouse traps and makes artwork out of it sometimes.  One day, Norman sees a sign outside of the museum announcing the sculpture competition occurring inside. Norman gets so excited and runs into the basement and grabs his latest wire sculpture. He runs it upstairs, careful not to be spotted by the security guards, and puts it next to the other sculptures. After the judging is completed, Norman discovers that his sculpture ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star By Jannat Messenger Summary:  This is a lullaby book of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star  with lights and music. It contains five verses to the famous poem and illustrations for each verse. The battery powered light shines through a small hole in each page. This makes it a fun and interactive book for young children. The print is also a larger size so children can follow along easily. Review: This book containing the famous children's lullaby has thick pages and a durable cardboard cover making it ideal for young children to handle. It also has very colorful pictures which will have children memorized. This is a great book for read alouds to young children, probably grades PreK-1st.  To get your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Twinkle-Little-Lullaby-Lights-Music/dp/0689711360   -The Green Eyed Reader
Post a Comment
Read more