I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket by Ed Young. New York: Philomel, 2004.

ISBN:978-0399236259

Annotation: A Nepalese basket tells its story of serving three generations of a family while sharing with us culture, traditions, and values. Based on an original Nepal folktale from the oral tradition, there is a lesson in the story of treating age with respect

Personification: The basket named Doko narrates the story of its life with a family through three generations.

Media: gouche, pastels, and collage with flecks of gold to simulate an antique glow

Rating:4Q/4P

RAC 7.27.09

 

 

 

 

 

          I-Doko: The tale of a basket by Ed Young. New York: Philomel, 2004. ISBN: 0-399-23625-2.

 

 

Doko is a traditional Nepalese basket in this Nepalese/Asian fable about a man who tries to rid himself and his wife of his elderly father,  and his son who saves his grandfather through wisdom and insight.  Doko is the basket that follows the man throughout his life, showing the many generations of family. 

 

 

Illustrations in gouache, pastel, and collage, framed in gold.

 

(DM 4.28.08)

 

I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket by Ed Young. New York: Philomel, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0399236259

A basket in Nepal describes his role in a generation of family members as a baby carrier, a wood carrier and a dowry object. Lessons about family life and respect for elders are explored.

   - Media: Pastel, Gouache, Collage, Gold Leaf
   - Rating: 4Q/5P

   - Curricular Connections: Grades 5-8 Social Studies

   - Special Category: use of personification through the text and/or through the illustrations. The story is told from the viewpoint of a basket.

CHA 8/1/09

 

 

 

Young, E. (2004). I, Doko : the tale of a basket. New York:  Philomel. ISBN-13: 978-0-399-23625-9

 

 

 

 

This Nepalese folktale, as told in first-person by the family’s basket, Doko, follows the many uses of the basket by continued generations of the family.  From carrying a baby, to kindling wood, to a dowry, the personified basket is privy to the family’s every action, including the day when the basket is to be used by the original owner’s son to take his aging father to be abandoned on the steps of the temple – that is until the aging father’s grandson asks his own father to remember to bring back the basket so he’ll have it “when you are old and it is time to leave you on the temple steps.”

 

Pair with Russell Freedman’s Confucius:  The Golden Rule

 

Curriculum connection:  Grades 6 and 7/ History-Social Science

 

 

 

 

Artwork: Gouache, pastel, and collage with gold accents – Asian-inspired; style described as impressionism in folk (Note:  These illustrations were the second set completed; the first set was lost before being turned in to the publisher.  An article on the debacle can be found at http://web.kitsapsun.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CORNER-BOOKS-12-22-04&cat=EB .)

 

Subjects: Respect for your elders; Nepal; Golden rule Themes: Everyone deserves respect. Treat others as you wish to be treated.

 

Literary Device: Personification

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young's inspiration for creating picture books: "A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words.  They are complementary.  There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe." 

 

In-depth interview with Ed Young and a bibliography can be found at http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/Young_qu.pdf

 

A webcast of Ed Young from the 2002 National Book Festival by the Library of Congress can be found at http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=3515 

 

 

Age Level Recommendation: Upper Elementary

 

Rating: 3Q/4P

 

 

 

AAS 5-3-08

I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket by Ed Young. New York: Philomel, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0399236259

A basket in Nepal describes his role in a generation of family members as a baby carrier, a wood carrier and a dowry object. Lessons about family life and respect for elders are explored.

   - Media: Pastel, Gouache, Collage, Gold Leaf
   - Rating: 4Q/5P

   - Curricular Connections: Grades 5-8 Social Studies

   - Special Category: use of personification through the text and/or through the illustrations. The story is told from the viewpoint of a basket.

CHA 8/1/09