Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi

• author:  Mark Rebstein  "no author website"
• illustrator:  Ed Young  http://edyoungart.com/
• medium:  collages of time-worn human-made & natural materials
• year of publication:  2008
• city of publication:  New York
• publisher:  Little Brown and Company
• ISBN:  978-0-316-11825-5

Annotation:  Wabi Sabi, a cat living in the city of Kyoto, learns about the Japanese concept of beauty through simplicity as she asks various animals she meets about the meaning of her name.


Personal Thoughts:  Is Wabi Sabi a simple story about a cat seeking the meaning of its name?  No.  The story is an explanation on a concept of beauty in simple things.  The collage artwork made of natural materials like leaves and hair, as well as photographs of cars and buildings is captivating.  The story is accompanied by haiku, structured line poetry that helps to flesh out the meaning of Wabi Sabi's search.  This is indeed a contemplative and philosophical story.  I liked Wabi Sabi but I wonder if 5th graders would respond well to this story.  I would suggest Wabi Sabi to students in 10th through 12th grades.

***Curriculum Connection - 10th grade English composition - hiaku, poetry
12th grade World Philosophy - eastern meditation, eastern philosophy

***Lesson Plan - choose students to read one haiku each from Wabi Sabi.  Ask the students to write down how the poem relates to the part in the story where it appears.  Then ask the students to come up with 3 haiku themselves based on anything significant in their lives.