Why The Jellyfish Has No Bones Book Review

Have you ever thought about why the jellyfish has no bones?

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Many Japanese children know the reason. They learned it by reading this story which begins in the palace of the Dragon King who lived at the bottom of the sea. The octopus, who is the palace doctor, tells the king that his daughter is sick and needs medicine made from the liver of a monkey in order to recover.

The octopus tells the king that the jellyfish is a good swimmer and suggests that he be sent out to find a monkey’s liver. The king agreed and sent the jellyfish on the important errand. The task, however, is not simple and in the end the jellyfish is unsuccessful. His punishment is harsh and reveals what happened to the bones he once had. Through some twists and turns, readers also find out that the octopus was not a noble creature, and that lies have consequences.

Why The Jellyfish Has No Bones is just one of twenty short stories in a collection called Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories compiled by Florence Sakade. These tales are so interesting because they show qualities and values that are important in Japanese culture, which is very different from U.S. culture. A simple way to put it is that U.S. culture regards individuals and their rights in high esteem. Whereas, Japanese culture, places more value on “the group” within society.

We’d have to go back to my grad school days and bring up lectures from my classes to get into this further. My main point is that it is really fascinating to read some of the stories in this book to see the lessons that Japanese children are taught. In one story called The Toothpick Warriors children learn that laziness is not acceptable from a princess who was too lazy to throw away her toothpicks!

Page From The Toothpick Warriors

I have to admit I found this book rather refreshing. I think it is a great idea to teach kids values through stories. So I give this book 5 stamps, which is my highest rating. I’m curious to know what you think. Do you like to teach kids lessons through story telling?

Before I go, I want to show you a fun project you can do to make “The Jellyfish Story” come alive. Make an octopus and jellyfish out of loom bands. Then use the little critters like puppets to act the story out. Here are some photos of the ones we made.

Octopus Loom Band Mini Puppet

You can find the tutorial over at this DIY Mommy video

Jellyfish Loom Band Mini Puppet

You can find the tutorial over at this Tutorials By A video

If you enjoyed this post you may wish to get the book Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories at your local library. Or if they don’t have it, there is always good old Amazon, which is an affiliate link.

Be sure to check out the rest of my posts in my Japan series…

Japan (Week 1) Flag, Map & Country Facts
Japan (Week 2) Interview | Meet Yoshi
Japan (Week 3) Craft | Origami Cranes
Japan (Week 4) Recipe | Fruit Sushi