A Nepalese basket tells the story of its use through three generations of a family, where it was used to carry grain from the field, the master's child, and other uses. - (Baker & Taylor)
A Nepalese basket tells the story of its use through three generations of a family. - (Baker & Taylor)
Doko is only a simple basket. It is not only grain from the field that he carries--he has also carried his master's child, and wood for the fire. He was there when the child became a man and married. And he very nearly had to carry the grandfather away forever. Luckily, someone wise beyond their years spoke up and made it possible for Doko to carry the grandfather home again instead.
As ever, Ed Young has taken a simple fable and made it into a masterpiece of stunning illustration and expert storytelling. This beautiful and unique book celebrates the generations with great originality. - (Penguin Putnam)
Booklist Reviews
/*Starred Review*/ K-Gr. 3. A doko, a Nepalese basket designed to tote heavy loads, narrates Young's newest folktale retelling. "My master, Yeh-yeh, picked me from among many baskets," begins Doko, going on to describe the many things it has held: Yeh-yeh's new baby; the dowry of Yeh-yeh's son's wife; and later, Yeh-yeh's grandchild, Wangal. Eventually, Yeh-yeh's son uses Doko to carry Yeh-yeh, grown old and feeble, to the temple, where he will remain to be tended by priests. Only after clever, loving Wangal requests that his father bring Doko home from the temple ("to be used again when you are old and it is time to leave you on the temple steps") do the awful ramifications of the plan leap into focus. Young emphasizes the story's parable-like qualities by combining simply stroked figures, flattened backgrounds, and gold embellishments that call forth Buddhist and Hindu sacred paintings. As increasing numbers of families anticipate in-home care for elderly relatives, parents will want to share this story's poignant message with their children. The book may also inspire students' recastings of familiar tales from unusual points of view. ((Reviewed December 1, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Yeh-yeh's basket, "Doko," recounts its useful roles in its owner's life. When Yeh-yeh grows old, his son thinks to use Doko one last time--to abandon his now-feeble father in--but relents when his own son begs him to bring Doko back so that he can use him when "it is time to leave [cf2]you[cf1] on the temple steps." Young's spare yet eloquent telling is illustrated with gold-bordered spreads luscious with color. Copyright 2005 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
A basket recounts its role in the stages of its owner's life. Yeh-yeh is young when he buys "Doko"; besides mundane uses such as transporting kindling, Doko carries Yeh-yeh's infant son and, later, the son's bride's dowry. When Yeh-yeh grows old, the son thinks to use Doko one last time -- to carry his now-feeble father to the priests and abandon him -- but relents when his own son begs him to bring Doko back afterward so that "I won't need to buy another Doko when you are old and it is time to leave you on the temple steps." Young's spare yet eloquent telling (based on an unsourced Nepalese folktale) suggests how Yeh-yeh's "wonderful stories" so endear him to his grandson. The gold-bordered spreads (gouache, pastel, and collage) are luscious with color, modulating from youth's spring greens and sunrise hues through somber tones of loss and drought. Finally, the darkly dramatic colors of Yeh-yeh's son's plotting give way to a serene, soft gold reflecting the "tolerance and harmony" that infuses the whole village once its people learn to respect their elders. A superb rendition of a tale with universal resonance. Copyright 2004 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
The epigraph from Kung Fu Tze-"What one wishes not upon oneself, one burdens not upon another"-aptly summarizes this simple parable set in Nepal. Doko, the teller, is a large basket that has carried a baby, kindling wood, a dowry, and a body to a grave, but grieves when the feeble grandfather is to be carried away to be abandoned on the temple steps. Perhaps inspired by the stories his grandfather has told him, the young grandson stops his father by reminding him to bring back the basket, so he won't have to buy another, "when you are old and it is time to leave you on the temple steps." The father's weeping eyes, his son reflected in his pupils, is manga-like in intensity. The dynamic, jewel-toned pastel, collage and gouache illustrations, bordered and flecked with gold give dignity, richness and power to a traditional Asian tale that embodies both the Golden Rule and respect for the elderly. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Young's (Lon Po Po) mixed-media artwork is stunning in this exquisitely designed book, but the often confusing, moralistic adaptation of a Nepalese folktale may be too inaccessible for some readers. As the ending suggests, the book tells how "Wangal's love and respect for his grandfather inspired and transformed the whole village in how to treat elders." Unfortunately, the story is told somewhat awkwardly in first-person by the family's large basket, Doko (which means "basket" in Nepalese). Doko witnesses the events and features prominently in the story's resolution, but the basket acting as narrator serves to distance readers from the characters and makes for some clunky explanations. When the aged grandfather, Yeh-yeh, becomes a nuisance by inadvertently setting the house afire, Wangal's parents decide to leave the man on the temple steps for the priests to tend. Like an amateur thespian, Doko asks readers, "What could I, a basket, do!" As his father carries Yeh-yeh away in the basket, young Wangal exposes his father's cruelty with his cathartic request: he asks his father to make sure he brings Doko back, because then he "won't need to buy another Doko when you are old and it is time to leave you on the temple steps." Accompanied by artistically sophisticated and emotionally powerful illustrations, the brief text mostly serves to summarize the story, and devotes little room to the relationships between characters. Despite the uplifting message and gilt-edged pages framing dramatically appealing artwork, this intergenerational story ultimately disappoints. Ages 4-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal Reviews
K-Gr 3-This fable begins at the marketplace, when a young father chooses a new basket for his family. Told from the point of view of the basket, the story proceeds as the baby boy grows up, the man's wife dies, and the son marries and has a family of his own. Through the years, the basket carries infants, crops, and even the woman's body to her grave; it becomes part of the family in a very fundamental way. At last, the father is a disabled old man and his son proposes to leave him at the temple so the priests will have to take care of him. The basket is consigned to carry him there, until the grandson intervenes with a haunting question that offers the moral of this traditional tale from Nepal. A quote from Kung Fu Tze in the sixth century B.C. opens the book: "What one wishes not upon oneself, one burdens not upon another." The simple text offers a splendid backdrop for the beautiful illustrations. Done in gouache, pastel, and collage, the pictures have graceful lines, subtle textures, and magnificent colors. With gold endpapers and gold edgings around each page, there's a timeless quality suited to the story. Lovely.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
