Through the simple act of running, beloved Japanese children's author, Gomi Taro, encourages young readers to not feel arbitrarily constrained by the limits society puts around us, to go ahead do what we want to do, and to enjoy the process along the way!
The story opens with a race, where the little boy realizes he had crossed the finish line and the race is "technically" over. But he wants to keep running... and so he does!
He runs across the open space between buildings, to the outskirts of the city, across some fields, to where the cattle, sheep, and ducks live...
From the thoughts and observations of a little boy ("hmm... is this race over?"), who makes a decision ("I'm just going to keep running!"), executes on it ("Run run run!"), and then reaps the rewards of his journey ("I'm done running!"), young readers learn that they CAN make decisions that are different from others, stick with it, and be happy with the outcome!
