The Big Wave

Well told story to aid children in dealing with disappointment, fear, death. Beautifully illustrates the purpose of life.

I read this book many years ago, and have been waiting for the right moment to read it to my child. This week, while we are absorbing the 12/26/2004 tsunami in South Asia, I deemed the moment right. The story is set in Japan at some time in the past, when the farmers and fishermen in the community are following the paths their fathers and grandfathers set. We see the story through the eyes of Kino who lives on a mountain farm, and learns about the sea through his friendship with Jiya, who lives "in the last house in the row of houses toward the ocean, and [whose] house [does] not have a window toward the sea" because, as Jiya tells Kino, "the sea is our enemy." Kino is relieved that he does not live near the sea, but his father reminds him of the great volcano, twenty miles away, and tells him that they "must learn to live with danger." The storyline is simple, almost inevitable. A volcano erupts under the sea and causes a tsunami, which sweeps away the fishing village by the sea. Many lives are lost. As the survivors slowly recover, and Kino's friend Jiya starts to accept life again, Kino asks his father all the questions that children need to ask after a natural disaster. His father's answers each question with patience and wisdom, in a manner open-ended enough so that the reader (or reader and parent) can pause and talk about their own beliefs and feelings. Or the reader can turn the page and stay absorbed in this well-crafted story. My only disappointment with my paperback edition (HarperCollins, 1986, ISBN 0-06-440171-5) is that it left out the famous woodblock prints by the 19th century Japanese artists Hokusai and Hiroshige. I pored over these illustrations as a child and immediately recognized them when I saw them in my library copy. Pearl Buck selected each individual print to allow her readers to see the beauty of Japan, and they form an integral part of the story. I would recommend you buy the Library Binding version by HarperCollins (1999, ISBN 0-38-199923-8) or check out a book with illustrations from your library.

I bought this book at a yard sale for twenty five cents. I read it to my six year old daughter and it was her favorite bedtime book for several months. It was a joy for me to discover how much I loved it, too. The themes are "mature," in that a boy watches his entire family die and then his friend watches him grieve this loss. My six year old was not too young for this, however; to her, death is as natural as the sun coming up unless I make a big deal about it. Pearl Buck presents a deep reverence for life, death, and living with danger and uncertainty that permeate the story in an accessible and real way. The end message is hopeful and joyous. I found in this book something rare in children's and even much contemporary adult fiction: a nonthreatening, sensitive portrayal of how people deal physically and emotionally with overwhelming loss; it's sort of like Elizabeth Kubler Ross 101 for a child's understanding. How unusual, and valuable. Kathleen Norris wrote in The Cloister Walk that for many years literature gave her what religion gives some people in the way of guidance and comfort in life's challenges. It seems to me the pinnacle of good literature to show commonalities between people of all ages, all over the world and through history, suggesting values people from other cultures and times have used to deal with universal human dramas. For me, The Big Wave does that. I hope I'm not the only parent who thinks kids deserve books with more substance than Junie B. Jones and Captain Underpants offer. Pearl Buck obviously respected children and their capacity to understand. Add to that its lovely clear language and stunning imagery of the setting...well, all told this is maybe my favorite kid's book, even if it only cost a quarter.

"The Big Wave," by Pearl S. Buck, is a short novel that takes place in Japan. The main characters are Kino, a farm boy who lives on a mountainside, and his good friend Jiya, who is the son of a fisherman. The two boys bond despite the cultural differences between the farming and fishing communities. But with the presence of a volcano and the threat of the great ocean wave of the book's title, life holds danger for these boys.This is a simple but beautifully told tale. Buck's themes include courage in the face of danger, the impact of geography upon the lives of the Japanese people, and the cycles of death and life. But most of all the book is about hope and friendship. For a good companion text, try one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books.

Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His best friend Jiya lives in the fishing village on the foot of the mountain. Everyone in the village fears the Big Wave. When the Big Wave comes Kino and Jiya's lives are changed forever, but their friendship will never end. I liked this book, it was interesting to read about how a volcano and the sea combined can be so powerful.