This is a story based off Japanese folklore. The story is about a woodcutter that meets a mysterious spirit like woman that asks him to never speak of their meeting. The woodcutter falls in love with a beautiful woman and after years of marriage speaks of the woman he met years ago, breaking his promise. The woman was that same mysterious woman and returned spirit form leaving the man heartbroken. He then goes to see the Wind God because the man is told only the god can return his wife to him. The man embarks on a treacherous journey up the mountain encountering evil beings, but eventually is able to reach the god and makes another promise to get her back. I like stories about magic and that contain a message, so this book was perfect for me. I had never heard the story and at first thought I was not going to like all the book because of all the text, but it turned out to be a really good story. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book as well, I think they captured the Japanese culture very well.
In the classroom I think this would be a great book to use with the middle grades, some of the illustrations are kinda scary. This book could be used for learning about other cultures and lead into a research project on other cultures. Also, this book is a Japanese fairy tale and I would use it during a fairy tale unit because I am sure it is one that most students are not familiar with. The message in this book emphasizes the value of keeping a promise and the pain of breaking one. After reading this book another activity the students could do would be coming up with their own double meaning message and create a fairy tale to help teach that message. This book also has illustrations that do an excellent job of reinforcing the text and creating mood. Two literary components of good writing that I would show the students.
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