The Funny Little Woman

Written by Arlene Mosel

Illustrated by Blair Lent

Caldecott Medal Winner 

A Japanese woman loves to make dumplings. One day, a dumpling begins to roll away. She follows it as it leads her over the river and through the woods in an attempt to catch it. As she is following it, she stops and talks with every person along the way about if they saw her dumpling. Finally, the dumpling lands in the hands of the wicked, three-eyed oni, and the woman must outsmart the wicked being in order to get her dumpling and be free. 

This funny book is wonderfully illustrated to create a nice relationship between the story and the images. This book would be a fun read aloud in a second-grade classroom where we talk about details within the book and trying to guess what we think will come next.