The+Boy+of+the+Three-Year+Nap


 * [[image:https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQrb6h8C_mRKXcTtJN3dByRV3JzYisQ7JqzMXcIDMYxxyaHLQj]]Book Review by Lauren Mikulak**

Dianne Snyder is the author of __The Boy of the Three-Year Nap__ and author of __George and Dragon Word__. Snyder began her work in the late 1980’s when she published her first children’s book. Snyder’s last publication was in 1991. Currently, Snyder still enjoys writing children’s books. However, she hasn’t published any recent work in the last few decades.
 * Author Biography**

__The Boy of the Three-Year Nap__-Dianne Snyder Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company 1988 Hardcover, $12.87 (Collectable Version), 32 pages ISBN code: 0-395-44090-4 Age Range: 7 & up Language: English
 * Biographical Data**

This story takes place on the banks of the river Nagara where a poor widow and her son, Taro, lived. The Widow’s occupation involved sewing silk kimonos for rich woman who lived in the town. While Taro’s mother worked all day, he lounged around and was very lazy. When Taro would nap, he would sleep for long periods of time. He gained his nickname, “The Boy of the Three-Year Nap”, due to his laziness. When Taro was nearly grown, a rich merchant moved to town and built an exquisite mansion. The merchant had a wife and a daughter who wore elegant kimonos. During Taro’s naps, he would observe the merchant’s property and wished that he could live the same life. Taro still remained lazy, and his mother strongly encouraged him to work for the rich merchant. Taro had a plan to become a priest, and he asked his mother to sew him a black kimono. Taro disguised himself as the ujugami and ordered to the merchant that it was time he marry off his daughter. Disguised as ujugami, Taro demanded that the merchant’s daughter should marry him. The merchant begged the ujugami to provide his daughter with a husband that was anyone else but the lazy Taro. However, ujugami threatened the merchant that if his daughter didn’t marry Taro, he would turn her into a cold clay pot. The next day, the merchant approached Taro’s mother and described what happened. Taro’s mother stated that her house was much too poor for the daughter to live in with her son, so the merchant paid for Taro’s house to be rebuilt. Just as Taro thought that he wouldn’t have to work, the merchant assigned his to maintain his storehouse, which wasn’t a part of Taro’s plan. Taro’s marriage to the merchant’s daughter was successful. Taro became a working man, and everyone stopped referring to him as “The Boy of the Three-Year Nap.”
 * Summary**

I strongly admire the story line within this book. This book sends a message across to readers in relation to telling lies. Dressed as the powerful ujugami, Taro was wrong to trick the merchant. He forced the merchant to marry off his daughter to the lazy Taro. Taro thought his plan would work, and he would not have to ever do any physical labor. However, Taro was wrong. His mother suggested to the merchant that Taro was no working man. In order to provide luxurious gifts for his daughter, Taro would have to maintain a job. When the merchant assigned Taro to his storehouse, Taro was in total shock. Performing hard labor was not a part of his plan. This sends a message across that nothing good comes out of a lie. Taro ended up having to work his whole life and remained as a busy man. Furthermore, I enjoyed all of the beautiful and big illustrations throughout this book. Each page contained a colorful illustration that worked well with the text. For example, Taro’s mother explains how lazy of a boy Taro is. An illustration of Taro lying down with a hand over his mouth (suggesting a yawn), was a great illustration to match the description. Allen Say, the illustrator of the book performed a wonderful job expressing people, emotions, and scenes throughout his illustrations.
 * Book Review**

Allen Say was the illustrator for this particular children’s book. The illustrations on each page of this book make the story come to life. Through these illustrations, readers are able to view the physical images of each character. For example, on page 6, readers are able to see what a hard worker the widow is as she sewed silk kimonos. Also, on page 7, readers are able to see how lazy Taro is as he lays down while his mother is hard at work. Even on page 16, readers are able to see how scary Taro is disguised as the ujugami, or how scared the merchant is. Furthermore, Say did an excellent job expressing emotions through these illustrations. On page 19, the merchant expresses how upset he is after the ujugami threatens to turn his daughter into a cold clay pot. He slams his fist on the ground, weeps, and appears to be yelling. Overall, these colorful illustrations truly connect to the text.
 * Analysis of Literary Development (Illustrations)**

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