The children's goal of getting the wheel on their school becomes a project that includes the participation of the whole community—the aged, the disabled, the toddlers, and the middle-aged parents.

The project provides everyone with a chance to do something important for the village and for themselves. If the children, with help from all the others, are able to achieve their goal, they can take pride in something they started.

Teamwork is all-important, and the villagers have a collective sense that they are doing something for the common good. Even if storks are supposed to bring good fortune, it is not luck that unites the village, but rather the effort with which everyone—from legless Janus and ninety-three-year-old Douwa to the tots in the tower—contributes to the cause. The villagers are rewarded when they learn to tolerate one another's differences and...