The Beckoning Cat - Picture Book & KID KANDY

The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale
By Koko Nishizuka
Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger
(Holiday House, 2009)

Have you seen a beckoning cat?

I have, in several shops and restaurants. I've always wondered what they were for. What is the symbolism and the story that goes along with these cats with waving paws?

The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale, is the best place to go to find out about those cheerful looking cats.

Yohei was a young boy who goes to the port each morning to buy fish to sell. He was very poor, but worked hard to find buyers for the fish that rested in buckets on both ends of a pole placed across his shoulder.

One rainy evening, a muddy kitty showed up at his door. Yohei fed the stray with as much of his meager food as he could. The next day it was gone.

Yohei's father came down ill with a high fever. Yohei was forced to go home and care for his sick dad instead of selling the fish in his buckets. He wished he could do both, as they desperately needed the money to survive.

Mysteriously, people started knocking on Yoshei's door. They wanted to buy fish. Who told them where to go? It was the beckoning cat, sitting by the door, waving her paw to garner attention.

This adorable story continues on with the story of Yoshei, his father, and the cat, who helped Yoshei sell enough fish to buy strong medicine for his father.

Now the beckoning cat is seen as a good-luck symbol. Many merchants put them in their windows or at cash registers. Now do you recall seeing a beckoning cat?

KID KANDY:

Go on a Beckoning Cat Hunt

~ Search online to learn more about beckoning cats.

~ Visit a Japanese or Asian restaurant for lunch or dinner. Is there a beckoning cat?

~ If you find a shop or restaurant with a beckoning cat, ask the owners or servers to tell about the cat. Is their story like the one found in The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale?

~ Make your own beckoning cat with construction paper, scissors, markers, and a brad. Cut out the cat, making it's arm separate. Attach the waving arm to the side of the cat with a brad so you can move it back and forth. What does your beckoning cat wave at?


Thanks for reading and sharing. Have a wonderful day!