Three Samurai Cats

Bibliography:
Kimmel, Eric A. and Mordicai Gerstein, ill. Three Samurai Cats: A Story from Japan. New York: Scholastic Inc. 2003. ISBN-10 0439692563

Plot Summary:
Three Samurai Cats is a Japanese story in which a rat takes over the household of a rich diamyo. The daimyo then rides off to a monastery where the dōchō promises to send a samurai cat in to face the rat. One cat comes and fails. Another cat comes and fails. Finally a tattered, old cat comes to face the rat.

Critical Analysis:
The story of the Three Cats clearly depicts the messages of the book, allow your opponents to defeat themselves and “draw strength from stillness”, in a very child friendly manner. The repetition of the daimyo going back and forth to the monastery, and the rat beating the first two cats, allows for children to see a pattern and predict what is going to happen. When the old cat comes there is again repetition in the rat and cat behavior which again draws the child into the story and makes them feel they are able to interact with the plot. The artwork of the books supports this relationship with the children listening to the book by using very exaggerated emotions on animal characters while at the same time incorporating many traditional Japanese artistic aspects.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal: “Here's an adaptation of an adaptation of a story Zen masters used to illustrate how unconventional approaches to problems can be disarmingly effective… Kimmel's telling is reasonably successful and the message to ‘Draw strength from stillness. Learn to act without acting. And never underestimate a samurai cat-‘ is conveyed without any element of preachiness. Gerstein's lively cartoon illustrations are at their best in depicting the loathsome rat. The daimyo and the abbot are depicted as dogs, but there's no question as to who has the upper paw.”
Booklist: “Kimmel tempers the folktale's heavy message about passive resistance with humorous, perfectly paced language that is ideal for read-alouds, and the characters in Gerstein's colorful, detailed drawings are irresistible--the saggy-jowled hound in robes; the buffoonish, wildly costumed daimyo bulldog; the scruffy, shrunken Neko Roshi; and, best of all, the pot-bellied, gleefully wicked ‘barbarous rat,’ who is more comic foil than villain. An author's note offers some historical background and sources.”

Connections:
Here are some other Japanese folktales:
Bodkin, Odds. The Crane Wife. ISBN 9780152014070
Sakade, Florence and Yoshisuke Kurosaki. Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories Book One. ISBN 9780804834490
Say, Allen. Under the Cherry Blossom Tree: An Old Japanese Tale. ISBN 9780618556151