Chibi: A True Story from Japan

When Oka-san, a brown and gold duck, searches Tokyo for a place to raise her ducklings, finally settling down in the Mitsui Office Park, people flock downtown to watch the ducklings hatch, including photographer Mr. Sato, who becomes the ducks' most devoted protector.

Grade 2-4?This true story is reminiscent of Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings (Viking, 1941), but it's set in modern Japan. When a duck nested beside the pool of a downtown office building to raise her young, the citizens of Tokyo became intrigued. The smallest duckling, Chibi, became the favorite of many, including the photographer Sato-san. He took it upon himself to look out for the ducks' safety. When a terrible storm upset the calm of their newly discovered sanctuary in the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace, Chibi and two other ducklings disappeared. The people searched and worried, but happily Chibi turned up unharmed. To protect the family, gardeners built a strong duck house that still floats in the moat of the Imperial Gardens. The ducklings, depicted in watercolor and ink, have plenty of personality as they splash, dive, and learn to play follow the leader. The scenery is faithful to the city and its people. There is a one-page glossary of Japanese words used in the text. Teachers searching for curricular connections to Japan will be pleased by this offering, and it will appeal to animal lovers as well, perhaps even inspiring a visit to a local pond habitat.?Susan Middleton, LaJolla Country Day School, CA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Brenner and Takaya make a bold move, opening this volume with a well-known scenario: a mother duck flies through the air, surveying the ground below for a spot to build a nest. Here and in several subsequent spots, including scenes in which the matriarch and her brood march in single file along a sidewalk and waddle across a busy street with the help of a policeman, the narrative and Otani's passable watercolor-and-ink illustrations closely echo Robert McCloskey's classic Make Way for Ducklings. Yet this more expansive tale, told in two chapters, has its setting in Tokyo. There the duck and her offspring, especially the diminutive Chibi, become media darlings. Their story, a true one, takes a dramatic turn when floods cause the death of one duckling and Chibi is lost, eventually reappearing "balanced like a surfer on a piece of Styrofoam." Smoothly integrating Japanese vocabulary into their account, the authors offer a welcome glimpse of bustling contemporary Tokyo. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 5^-8. Brenner and Takaya tell the true story of a wild duck family in a thoroughly civilized setting. A mother duck chooses the pool in front of a Tokyo office building as a good place to build her nest. Ten ducklings hatch, swim, and grow, much admired by the people who gather to watch them, including an elderly photographer. One day, the mother duck decides to lead her brood to a new home, the moat in the Emperor's Gardens. The caring photographer risks his life to stop traffic on the eight-lane avenue as the ducks step off the curb on their way to the moat. The second chapter concerns the duck family weathering a flood. Charming ink-and-watercolor pictures illustrate the book. Although there are echoes of Make Way for Ducklings here, this longer and more episodic story will appeal to older children. Some third-and fourth-graders will enjoy reading the book on their own, though the main audience is probably in the read-to-me stage. Carolyn Phelan