This book very much reminds of Silver Smith's apprentice Johny Tremain

books:


	• The Sign of the Chrysanthemum (Harper Trophy Book) Katherine Paterson HarperTrophy, 1988 - 144 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

A Pedal of the Chrysanthemun

The book starts off with a boy named Muna, the nameless one, whos mother just passed away. He now wants to look for his warrior father so that he would be able to be highly respected and change his name of his 14th birthday to a name more proper for a man, but the only thing he knows about his father is that he has a chrysanthemun tattoo and a he is a Heike warrior.
I thought this book was quite good. It had many dialogues, a good storyline, and some action. Most of all, I liked how the book was easy to understand.

This book very much reminds of Silver Smith's apprentice Johny Tremain

Back when we knew very little about Japanese history
of culture this was a very good introduction.
Shogun was new and ideas of how this culture was just another culture.
The Rape of Nanking seems to have these innocent dreams about Japanese being "like" us? This book gives a good introduction to the Samurai based society of medieval Japan at a time when Knights roamed England on deeds of chivalry and cathedrals were being built. A system based on Christian ethics is very different than one based on Bushido. But the societies are surprising alike on the surface.

for more information click here

The Sign of the Chrysanthemum

The Sign of the Chrysanthemum is a book about a boy named Muna. Muna is a name that people would laugh about; some might say, "What kind of name is that?" People teased Muna because of his name. Muna doesn't want to be tease anymore and wants to be a man, so he would try to find his father, who is a warrior. Muna used to lived only with his mother and him, without a father with them. Then Muna's mother died and decides to find his father, so people won't tease him. But before Muna's mother died, she said some descriptions about his father. His father is a warrior and has a chrysanthemum tattoo. But that is the only things that Muna knows about his father. So the journey begins with some adventures.

I think that this book is okay, but it isn't really that good. I wanted to give the rate to be 3 and a half, but it doesn't have it. But in the other hand, it was a little bit good. Muna had some dreams about his father. This book was kind of boring, but there are adventures that are exciting. This book has some pictures in it and is kind of short. I enjoy reading part of the story, it is a good book.

for more information click here

A heart-warming, captivating read.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in about two hours (it is a short book). I am a Chinese lady teaching 12th grade English and I am sure all my students will enjoy this book, and also any grades from 9th onwards, because of its universal themes of search for identity, how it encapsulates the adventurous spirit of Feudal Japan, and its simple language which manages to be so evocative at the same time. For all those who didn't enjoy reading or teaching the book, may I suggest that you let your students watch some extremely popular Japanese Animation series about Feudal Japan like Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha before reading this book. Katherine Paterson's book reads exactly like a a great Anime series and I could picture the whole thing in my mind, background music and scenery included, and it was beautiful. So beautiful. Anyone with even a vague knowledge of feudal era Anime, or Japanese Culture and History of the Heian period will realise how accurately Paterson has portrayed the Japanese ideals of 'honour' and 'family'. She also deliberately tones down her writing style to match the simple sentence structures and restrained style of many East Asian writers, and this would be useful to know when comparing this book stylistically with her other works.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Muna has never known his father -- a samurai, a noble warrior. But Muna's mother has told Muna how he will know him one day: by the sign of the chrysanthemum. When his mother dies, Muna travels to the capital of twelfth-century Japan, a bewildering city on the verge of revolution. He finds a haven there, as servant to the great swordsmith, Fukuji. But Muna cannot forget his dream: He must find his father. Only then will he have power and a name to be reckoned with. Only then will he become a man.