YAISHWARYAJ: {Awareness} Suki´s Kimono

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Pedagogical Project

"The Joy of Reading"

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Dear Readers,

We would like to invite you to take part in a new project called "From Stories to Books".

The Stories for Everyone Team have been, for some time, gathering and selecting books that provide some sort of reflection on the fundamental ethical principles of

our society, such as solidarity, courage, honesty, respect for differences and a sense of justice, matters that have deserved the attention of writers from various

nationalities.

Therefore, the Stories for Everyone Team proposes to send, together with the usual weekly stories,and also free of charge, full texts of selected books.

In case you are interested in receiving each week, by email, a chapter of an extensive reading book, all you have to do is send an email to

books@storiesforeveryone.com or stories4ev@gmail.com by writing the following sentence in the subject field:

"Yes, I am interested in participating in the project From Stories to Books."

Hoping that this new proposal will meet your utmost interest, we look forward to your reply.

The Stories for Everyone Team

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This week's stories with PDF attachments:

- Suki´s kimono

- Lily and the Paper Man

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Suki´s kimono

On the first day of school, Suki wanted to wear her kimono. Her sisters did not approve.

"You can´t wear that," said Mari. "People will think you´re weird."

"You can´t wear that," said Yumi. "Everyone will laugh, and no one will play with you."

"You need something new, Suki."

"You need something cool."

But Suki shook her head. She didn´t care for new. She didn´t care for cool. She wanted to wear her favorite thing. And her favorite thing was her kimono.

Suki´s obāchan had given her the kimono. The first time Suki wore it, obāchan took her to a street festival where they slurped bowls of slippery cold sōmen noodles and shared a cone of crunchy, shaved ice topped with a sweet red bean sauce.

Under strings of paper lanterns, Suki joined her obāchan in a circle dance. She followed her movements, trying to be as light and as graceful. She watched the other women and children who danced, especially those who were dressed in cotton kimonos like her.

Later, Suki sat so close to the stage that when the taiko drummers performed, bom-bom-bom-bom, she felt like she´d swallowed a ball of thunder and her whole insides quaked and quivered.

Before they left the festival, Suki and her obāchan stopped at a souvenir stand. There were many things to choose from, but her obāchan found the prettiest thing of all — a handkerchief of pale pink linen, decorated with tiny maple leaves and cherry blossoms. When she gave it to Suki, she said, "This will help you remember our day."

Now, it was time for school. Mother checked Suki´s obi one last time and took a picture of Mari, Yumi and Suki together by the front steps.

Then, as she watched, the three sisters made their way down the block to their school. Mari and Yumi stayed several paces ahead of Suki and pretended they didn´t know her.

But Suki didn´t mind.

She turned and waved to her mother before she clip-clopped along in her shiny red geta, feeling very pleased in her fan-patterned blue kimono.

Once in a while, Suki would lift her arms and let the butterfly sleeves flutter in the breeze. It made her feel like she´d grown her own set of wings.

When they reached the school, Mari and Yumi hurried across the yard to a group of their friends. Suki stopped and looked around. Some of the children turned and stared at her, and others giggled and pointed at her kimono.

But Suki ignored them.

She took a seat on a swing to wait for the bell. A girl dressed in overalls just like a pair Suki had at home sat on the swing beside her.

"Hi, Suki," said the girl.

"Hi, Penny," said Suki.

"How come you´re dressed so funny?" Penny asked. "Where did you get those shoes?"

Suki lifted her feet off the sand and wiggled her toes. "I´m not dressed funny," she said. "My grandma gave me these shoes."

Suki started pumping her legs. After a moment, Penny did the same, and soon they were both swinging as fast and high as they could. Swoosh, swoosh, up and up.

When the bell rang, Suki and Penny jumped off their swings and ran to the gym for the first day assembly. Once they were finally taken to their new classroom, Suki chose a desk near the window. Penny chose a desk next to Suki.

As they waited for everyone to find a seat, two boys in front of Suki turned and snickered behind their hands. One of the boys reached over and snatched at Suki´s sleeve. "Look at this," he said. "She´s a bat!"

Suki felt her cheeks burn, but she did not respond. Instead, she concentrated on sitting up straight and tall, the way her obāchan always did. It was easy to do with an obi wrapped snug around her middle. Her obi was golden yellow, and in its folds Suki had tucked away her pale pink handkerchief.

"Welcome to the first grade," said the teacher. "My name is Mrs. Paggio." She smiled. "Let´s introduce ourselves and tell everyone what we did this summer."

When it was her turn to speak, Suki stood up and told the teacher her name.

"Hello, Suki," said Mrs. Paggio. "What did you do this summer?"

"My grandma visited us," she said, straightening her sleeves. "She brought me my kimono and my geta." Suki raised her foot to show the teacher her wooden clog.

Somewhere in the classroom, someone laughed, but Suki took a deep breath and continued. "The best thing was that she took me to a festival. And there were dancing girls, dressed like me, and they danced like this." She took a few steps and swayed her arms sideways.

"Look, now she´s dancing," someone said. But Suki didn´t hear.

...

(To be continued - You can read the whole story in the PDF attachment)

Chieri Uegaki

Suki´s kimono

Toronto, Kids Can Press, 2003

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Lily and the Paper Man

"Shall we take the bus home today?" Lily´s mother asks.

Lily peers from under her umbrella. "Let´s walk. I like the rain." She takes her mother´s hand to cross the street. Her mother goes around the puddles. Lily skips through them.

"Good-bye, Frank," she calls to the crossing guard.

Frank holds up his bright red STOP sign for her. "Good-bye, Lily. See you tomorrow."

Down the street they go. Lily hops on one foot past the window of Mrs. Chan´s store. She waves at Mrs. Chan, who smiles and waves back. They are almost home.

"Look, Mama. I can walk backwards the rest of the way."

"Be careful, Lily," her mother cries.

Lily backs into something. She spins around.

"A dollar for the paper," growls a tall man in a raggedy coat. His hair sticks up higgledy-piggledy all over his head. He thrusts a thin newspaper toward Lily´s mother. Lily hides, clutching her mother´s coat as she peeks out.

Her mother gives the man a dollar and takes the paper. "Thank you," she says.

The man nods and then stares at Lily. The rain runs off his bumpy nose and down into his beard. Lily can hear his wheezy breathing. She clings to her mother, looking back all the way to their apartment door.

The next day after school, Lily says, "I want to take the bus home, Mama."

"Are you sure?

Lily looks at her feet and nods, so they get in line and board the bus. She sees Frank out the window and waves, but he doesn´t see her. They whiz past Mrs. Chan´s too fast for Lily to see her friendly face. When they drive past the Paper Man, Lily ducks down in her seat. He doesn´t see her! Her mother rings the bell.

Lily runs from the bus to the lobby door. "Hurry, hurry, Mama!" She pushes against the handle.

"Is something wrong, Lily?"

Lily shakes her head and looks down the street. The Paper Man is heading their way. Lily feels his eyes on her. She shoves the door and it clicks shut. They are safe now.

All that week Lily and her mother take the bus. And all the next week. And every day after that. Until the first snow falls.

Lily has fleecy new mitts and toasty new boots. She tries to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

"Try it, Mama," she says. She tugs on her mother´s hand.

"Don´t you want to take the bus, Lily?"

Lily shakes her head. "I like the snow. Good-bye, Frank." They cross the street. Snow flies around them in a bright flurry.

"Let´s see if Mrs. Chan is selling hot cocoa yet," Lily´s mother says. Lily claps her mittens together and runs on ahead.

Lily closes her eyes and listens to the squeak and crunch of her boots in the snow. Her mother follows her.

"A dollar for the paper..."

Lily´s eyes fly open. The Paper Man holds out a newspaper with a shaking hand. Lily wants to run away, but she stands still. She sees a thin shirt through the holes in his coat and bare feet through the holes in his boots. Lily shivers.

Lily´s mother gives the man a dollar, then she tucks the paper into her purse. "Thank you," she says.

"Have a good day," says the Paper Man. Lily is not sure, but she thinks he winks at her.

Lily forgets to press the numbers that unlock the lobby door. She forgets to push the UP button on the elevator. She is thinking.

"Lily, is something wrong?"

"The Paper Man isn´t wearing socks, Mama. Why? It´s cold out."

Lily´s mother looks serious. "I guess he doesn´t have any," she says. "We´re very lucky to have warm clothes and a place to live."

Lily is quiet after that and holds her mother´s hand all the way to their apartment.

On Saturday Lily goes out with her father to buy milk at Mrs. Chan´s. The Paper Man is on the corner. He has no hat and his ears are red from the cold. Lily´s father stops to buy a paper.

"Thank you," says the Paper Man. Then, "Morning, missy." He smiles a wobbly smile.

Inside the store Lily has the dollar her father gave her for a treat, but she can´t decide what to buy.

"Save it until you find something special," suggests Mrs. Chan.

Lily walks home hand in hand with her father. She feels the coins in her mitten press against her palm. They come to the corner. There he is again. The Paper Man´s shoulders are hunched. His arms are folded and Lily sees him shuffling from one cold foot to the other. He doesn´t even notice her this time.

That night in bed, Lily snuggles down under her favorite quilt. She holds her doll, Steffie, close.

"We are warm, and we have enough socks. But the Paper Man is cold. What can we do, Steffie?" Lily thinks and thinks until her question fades into sleep.

In the morning, Lily slips out of bed and, hugging Steffie, whispers, "I know what to do!"

The next day after school, Lily and her mother stop to talk to Frank. Then they go to Mrs. Chan´s store. Then they visit the caretaker in their building. All week Lily works on her idea. She and her father go to this place and that, fetching and carrying until, at last, she is ready. Under her quilt that night, Lily has trouble falling asleep.

Early, early, Lily wakes up. She and Steffie hurry into her parents´ room. "It´s time to get up" she says.

"Go back to bed, Lily, it´s too early," mumbles her father.

"It´s Saturday," her mother adds.

"The wind is blowing and the snow is falling," says Lily. "The Paper Man is cold. Please come now."

Lily´s mother sits up in bed. Her father turns on the light. They look at each other and they get out of bed. They get dressed, pick up a big, big bag, and down they go.

…

(To be continued - You can read the whole story in the PDF attachment)

Rebecca Upjohn

Lily and the Paper Man

Toronto, Second Story Press, 2007

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You can visit us on Facebook where you can find more interesting stories about several different topics.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stories-for-Everyone/125862557478585

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Sir/Madam,

We are a group of people with some experience in the area of storytelling and we would like to share our project – The Joy of Reading – with everyone who is in touch with children and young people in general but above all with everyone that enjoys reading.

This project consists of sending stories for free on a weekly basis. So this particular e-mail and the ones that will follow it in the next weeks are intended to share some small stories with you. All the stories we send have some values within: respect for nature, tolerance, tenderness, responsibility, solidarity and many more. They all aim at developing the reading skills among young people, as well as allowing some moments of reflection and dialogue about topics connected with human values, which seem to have been somewhat forgotten in these times of materialism and hedonism.

We thank you for your attention and hope you will welcome this project (which, it is important to say, does not have any profitable aims).

If you know anyone interested in receiving the weekly stories by email, let us know by sending their emails to us.

Please let us know your opinion about the project.

Yours faithfully

The Pedagogical Team

sg@storiesforeveryone.com

stories4ev@gmail.com