By Scott Lisbin

Illustrated by Greg Bonnell

Ern

ie

’s Journey

to

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This book belongs to:

Copyright © 2010 by Scott Lisbin

Cover and book design by Greg Bonnell

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2010

ISBN 145362905X

EAN-13 9781453629055

Hi! My name is Ernie.

I love to travel and see new places and meet new friends.

I went on a trip to Japan,

which is far away from

where I live.

Japan is known as

the Land of the Rising Sun.

I met Sakura there and she became my very best friend in the whole wide world.

She taught me to say good morning in Japanese

which is o-hi-yo.

which is the national flower

of Japan.

Her name means cherry blossom

In Japan they write using pictures called kan-ji.

Sakura had to learn over 3,000 kanji to read.

I feel lucky that I only had to learn the 26 letters of the alphabet to read back home.

cat flower earth

boy girl

Sakura also took me to

see a pagoda, a torii,

and even a rock garden.

Torii

Pagoda

My favorite was the rock garden.

It was very different from the gardens back home.

It didn’t have any plants or flowers – just rocks!

In Japan they use two wooden sticks called

ha-shi or “chopsticks” to eat.

I had never used chopsticks

to eat before.

With a little practice, eating with chopsticks

was as easy for me as using a fork.

Sakura’s younger brother Itsuo has a pet beetle.

It is an elephant beetle with two horns and a trunk

and it is really big—almost 3 inches long!

It is much bigger than any insect I have ever seen.

Sakura showed me how to do or-i-ga-mi.

She made a paper elephant just by folding a piece

of paper in different ways.

She then showed me how to make a

dinosaur, a flower, a dog, and even a

jumping frog!

Sakura took me to the store to buy souvenirs for my

family and friends back home. The sales clerk greeted

me with a big bow and a warm ir-ra-shai-mase

which means welcome. Everybody is very polite in Japan.

fish flag

noh mask

paper lantern

kokeshi doll

After a long day it was finally time to go to sleep.

In Japan people sleep on the floor on a fu-tonrather than in beds. I enjoyed sleeping on a futon—

it was like camping but a lot more comfortable.

As the new day began, it was finally

time to head back home.

Japan was lots of fun. I made a new friend,

learned how to say some words in Japanese,

and saw many new places.

But it is now time to say

sa-yo-na-ra or “goodbye”

to Sakura and Japan.

I am looking forward to another adventure real soon.

I would like to see the pyramids in Egypt, lions and

tigers in Africa, and the Taj Mahal in India.

Where should I go next?

Ernie’s Phrases

It’s fun to speak to my friends in Japan.

But all my friends don’t speak English so I

learned some words in Japanese. Would you

like to learn Japanese also? If so, practice

saying the words on the next several pages

and you will be able to speak Japanese too.

O-HI-YO Good Morning

KO-NEE-CHEE-WAHello

O-TOKO-NO-KOBoy

O-NA-NO-KOGirl

NEH-KOCat

E-NUDog

HA-NAFlower

I-SU-CrEAM-UIce Cream

NIN-GYODoll

BO-rUBall

MU-SHEBug

E-CHI

One

COUNTING

KNEE

Two

SAN

Three

SHE

Four

GO

Five

JU

Ten

QU

Nine

HA-CHI

Eight

SHE-CHI

Seven

rO-KU

Six

Ernie’s Projects

I like to do arts and crafts. They are really

fun to do either by myself or with a friend.

Do you like arts and crafts also? If so, you

will enjoy doing the projects shown on the

next several pages.

JAPANESE FAN

Get 4 popsicle sticks.

Arrange them into a fan shape and glue them together at the bottom. Let the glue dry.

Cut a rounded fan shape from a sheet of paper

Decorate it however you like.

Combine the two by gluing the paper onto the popsicle sticks.

Fold a piece of paper in half, to make a long, thin rectangle.

folded edge

don’t cut all the way through!

Make 12-15 cuts from the folded side in, but not all the way through.

Unfold the paper and roll into a tube. Then glue or staple the ends together.

Glue or staple a strip of paper to make a handle.

PAPEr LANTErN

Cut rounded scale shapes from different-colored paper.

Draw lines spaced about half the height of the scales apart. Glue the scales to the paper in overlapping rows along the lines.

Cut a strip of paper to make a line at the top of the scales, then cut paper circles to use for eyes. Or you can draw these with markers.

CArP KITE

Tape or glue several lengths of crepe paper to the back.

roll the kite into a tube and glue or staple it together.

Punch holes and attach a string to hang the kite or attach it to a pole

GLU

E

CHErrY BLOSSOM TrEE

Cut some strips of brown paper and glue them onto a sheet of paper to make a simple tree shape. Or you can use paint or markers to make the tree.

Cut pink tissue paper into small squares and scrunch them onto the eraser end of a pencil. Put a dab of glue on the tree branch, turn the pencil over and put the blossom on the glue.

Put one chopstick in the crook between your thumb and index finger.

1

3

2

Hold the second chopstick between the tip of your thumb and your index and middle fingers.

The top chopstick does the moving, the lower chopstick stays still. Move the top one toward the lower one to pick things up.

Keep practicing and you can do it!

LEArN TO USE CHOPSTICKS

rOCK GArDEN

PLAY

SAN

D

Get a small shallow box or a box lid.

Fill it about halfway with play sand, then smooth out the sand until it’s level.

Find some interesting looking rocks of different sizes and colors. If you have a rock collection you can use some of your favorites from it.

Arrange the rocks in a pleasing way in the sand. Then use a fork (or tiny rake) to make beautiful patterns of lines around your rocks. Take your time and enjoy the process.

SAYONArA

さようなら。

ABOUT THE AUTHOr

Scott Lisbin

The author has traveled extensively throughout the world. He considers traveling to be an adventure and loves seeing new places, learning about a country’s culture and customs, and making new friends. He feels that experiencing different cultures opens one’s mind to new philosophies and ideas. True to this spirit of adventure he has tried many things from eating scorpion in China to grasshoppers in Japan to snails/escargot in France and more. He has walked atop the great wall in China, watched the sunrise on Mount Fuji in Japan, and played with wallabies, koalas, and kangaroos in Australia. He hopes his books help:

1. build an appreciation for different cultures, and

2. ignite a desire to travel in the children and parents who read his books.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTrATOr

Greg Bonnell

Greg has been making pictures of one sort or another for most of his life, but he still feels the thrill of discovery every time he starts a new project. He has travelled in the United States and Europe, and in the future would love to see more of the world, but for now he will travel by reading books and using his imagination. Greg currently lives in Ohio with his wife and three children.

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