Linda Sue Park's children's novel A Single Shard is a phenomenal book about how hard work and determination can provide wonderful end results. The book takes place in 12th century Korea, and Park does a wonderful job of taking a story that could be extremely distanced from today's young readers and making it relevant.
The book's central character, Tree-ear, is an orphan who, after some bit of mischief, works closely with his idol, a master potter named Min. Tree-ear is fascinated with Min and his ability to work so well with pottery, and when another character Kim visits the potter's location and tells how the palace wants a new commission, Tree-ear is eager to take Min's pottery to the distant palace to show the talent of his master potter. Not terribly surprising in the novel, Tree-ear is "attacked" by robbers on his way to the palace and all of Min's work is destroyed and broken; all that is left is a "single shard," but Tree-ear thinks this shard of pottery is still enough to prove Min's talent as a master potter. Tree-ear is right; when he makes it to the palace, Kim is impressed with the potter's work, and when Tree-ear makes it back to Min with the news, he discovers some personal tragedies. In the end, however, all is well, and Min adopts Tree-ear, and Tree-ear finally begins to learn to be a potter himself.
The novel does a wonderful job of showing children how hard work can prove beneficial, and many teachers and parents could use this novel as a guide to how the human spirit can overcome many obstacles. Many times, people are judged by just a small aspect of themselves, sometimes something as small as a "single shard," so people should be prepared to make sure even the smallest aspect of themselves can represent their hard work and effort to the strongest degree.
Nate Smith
Resource:
Park, L. S. (2001). A single shard. New York: Clarion Books.
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