From School Library Journal
Grade 1–4— In this gentle tale, "Young Takeboki needed a job, and the monks in the temple needed a Flower Keeper." The boy's humble pride in his task lasts through his long lifetime and into his afterlife. The author credits "the artistry of Japanese gardens" as her inspiration, and borrows a bit from Buddhist teaching to weave a folkloric lesson on the value of good work. Meade's pleasing watercolors spread across the double pages to follow Takeboki through the seasons and then across the years as he contentedly sweeps, arranges patterns in the sand, tends to leaves and flowers, and dreams of greater worlds. As others rebuke him for his lack of ambition for a more lucrative job, he reflects repeatedly on a simple truth. "The monks need a temple, the temple needs a garden, and the garden needs a Flower Keeper." The illustrations provide a bit of foreshadowing, incorporating the figure of another smiling boy, the future Flower Keeper, in later scenes. The old man's life's work takes on much larger proportions in the land beyond Earth, where he's once more young and now has a golden rake and a silver broom to tend the clouds in all directions as Sky Sweeper. Nicely constructed for reading aloud, this quiet story has a satisfying progression that might prompt reflective discussion.—
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
As a boy, Takeboki becomes a "Flower Keeper" at a Zen temple, and his work shaping the monks' garden becomes a lifelong occupation. His family objects: shouldn't he find a more lucrative, prestigious job? Even the monks withhold praise. But Takeboki listens only to the profound joy his work brings. When he grows too old to rake, the monks finally realize his contribution. They rush to thank him, but they find that he has already passed on to heaven, where he joyfully sweeps a celestial garden of clouds and stars. This is a complex, challenging story. Children will need help connecting Gershator's poetic, often Zen-influenced messages about Takeboki's sense of purpose and personal reward. But Meade's beautiful collage illustrations of the earthly garden and glorious afterlife greatly enhance the story's accessibility and will help kids get closer to the text's religious and philosophical themes. Pair this with the titles in the Read-alikes "Beginning Buddhism," in the January 2002 issue of
Booklist. Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
