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Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator - Review
By Richard Jones
Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator Summary: A young boy named Takeboki lives in Japan and is searching for a job. He finds a passion at a Buddhist temple as a Flower Keeper. His job is to care for the temple garden throughout the year. During the spring he sweeps up cherry blossoms, in the summer and fall he clears the walking paths of sticks and leaves, and in the winter he sweeps the paths clear of snow. Takeboki finds satisfaction in his job and decides to make it a life long career. His friends and family do not understand why he loves his job so much and why he won’t leave and do something else. He takes great pride in his work and loves what he does.
Evaluation: Evaluating the Sky Sweeper through a multicultural lens has given me new insight to the lessons in the story. The book gives the reader a different perspective of life and work. They find their meaning and purpose in what they do, so they perform their duties with joy and peace, rather then simply doing it to get paid. The Flower Keeper found a true purpose and reason for living and embraced with contentment. This is a stark contrast to what Americans see in their culture and society.
The book avoided stereotyping and derogatory words and phrases that would fail a multicultural evaluation. The pictures depicted the character in traditional Japanese kimonos and the monks in their proper attire. I found nothing in the book that would feed into Japanese stereotyping.
When evaluating the perspective of the book I found it to be unique with a worth while lesson. Takeboki finds peace and solace in working in the garden at the temple. He enjoys the job because it gives him purpose and meaning in life. The quietness of the garden allows him to imagine that he is in different places, which makes it all the more enjoyable. The main lesson of the story is about contentment. Even though no one ever thanks him for what he did, and missed him when he was gone, he was content even in death and then rebirth.
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Loved that. I will ad this quote: "Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is." - Elbert Hubbard. Thank you, Happy New Year.
Thanks for sharing this great story. We all have the ideal job, if we are happy and can care for those we love.
Have a Healthy, Happy New Year and beyond.
Frederick
The copyright for this content entitled "Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator - Review" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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