Picture book. Another book about a poor man, but he is giving flowers to the ocian to thank the Dragon king. As thanks he is presented with a magic boy where as long as you feed him shrimp with vinegar and sugar will make all your wishes come true.However, after a while the man gets fed up with the boy and kicks him out of the castle, so as payback the boy makes everything he had given the man disappear and the man is left with nothing. ( )

The illustrator Sachiko Yoshikawa illustrated this story beautifully. By looking at the illustrations, a child can get an idea as to what is going on, without reading the story. Yoshikawa illustrated the snot-nosed boy with a different nose structure than the other characters in the story, and that's what makes the little boy stand out from the rest. On top of that, readers can see the shift in colors as the story progresses. The colors were more dull and gray when the flower seller was poor, whereas the colors were more vibrant and lively when the flower seller was rich and greedy. To me, the colors not only showed the way the flower seller lived, but it also signified his emotions. Dull when the man was sad, colorful when he was happy, and dull again when it was all taken away because he was ungrateful and full of greed. ( )

Summary:
A poor flower seller can not sell his flowers so he offers them up to the Dragon King under the
sea. He is rewarded with a small boy who “...had the snottiest nose you ever did see!” He was
told that this boy would give him good luck, provided that he serve him shrimp cooked in
vinegar and sugar. When the boy was fed his shrimp by the man, the flower seller would ask for
many different forms of riches and the boy would blow his nose and grant whatever the man
wanted. The man is far too greedy and wishes for more and more things, continuously believing
that having to take care of the boy between wish grantings was a nuisance.
Comments:
This book shares the concept of always be grateful for what you have and always remember to say thank you. ( )

A poor flower seller gave his remaining flowers to the Dragon King of the sea. The Dragon King returned the gift by giving him a little boy who had a snotty nose. If her fed the boy a certain shrimp dish, the boy would grant the man's wishes. Once the man had wished for so many things and became rich, he was tired of feeding the snot nosed-boy and sent him back to the ocean. All of the man's riches disappeared and he went back to being poor.
This is a good example of a folktale because there is magic involved and it is a tale passed down from person to person in Japan. The magic in this book comes the the snot-nosed boy, who causes the man's wishes to come true if he is fed a certain shrimp dish.
Media: watercolor
Age Appropriateness: Primary

A poor flower seller did not sell any of his flowers so he offered them to the dragon king. The dragon king gave them poor man a snotty nosed child with the instructions that he will bring you luck but must be feed shrimp and rice. The man feed the child and received amazing things in return including a house, gold, servants, and everything he could possibly want. The man, now with all of his new possessions, did not want the child to bother him anymore so he pushed him out side the gate of his new palace. All of the wishes granted were taken back and the man was poor once again. When the snotty nosed boy returned to the dragon king he told him that "You just can't help some humans... he never said thank you."