Haikus need not be relegated to poetry only. In the Japanese-inspired fairy tale The Crane Girl, Curtis Manley interweaves haikus within the story’s narrative to provide profound insight into the characters’ true psyches. With gorgeous illustrations by Lin Wang, Manley provides an updated look and a new twist to this Japanese classic fairy tale.
In the West there are two main versions of Japanese crane fairy tales. In The Crane Wife, a man coincidentally rescues a crane and falls in love with a mysterious woman at the same time. The man’s lust for money causes great strife in their relationship as the mysterious woman is a master seamstress who creates gorgeous and highly coveted cloth. In The Grateful Crane, a similar narrative occurs wherein an elderly couple provides a home for a mysterious young woman who is also linked to a crane within the story. There are many variations of crane stories, but there is always a chance to provide’s one personal touch to a new literary creation. With his latest work The Crane Girl, Manley has revitalized the crane fairy tale with the succinctness of the haiku to give readers deeper insight into this poignant tale.