Little Oh
Kindergarten-Grade 4.  This appealing original fantasy set in old Japan reunites the creators of The Rainbabies (Lothrop, 1992). This story, too, features a magical child, an origami paper doll made by a woman who lives alone and works as a potter. The woman puts the doll in a lacquer box beside her bed at night, and the next morning the doll comes to life and names herself after the woman's astonished exclamation. Delighted with the living paper doll that calls her "mother," the woman tries to protect the tiny, fragile child from harm. Inevitably, Little Oh becomes lost and embarks on a series of dangerous adventures before she finds her way back home. Along the way, Little Oh meets a man and his son, who needs a mother, and her own final transformation brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. While the narrative echoes folktales told around the world, the realistic colored paintings establish setting and character with loving specificity. Each double-page spread, elegantly balancing art and text, takes a carefully imagined point of view. Whether long shots or close-ups, the illustrations resonate with the changing emotions of the story: love, danger, loss, flight, reunion. The artwork celebrates imperial Japan: the familiar subjects of Japanese art, mountains and mist, gardens, pine trees, reeds, and a flying crane are rendered accurately in fresh, original interpretations. The artist's precise portraits of the characters, captured mid-gesture, invite readers into the heart of this warm, old-fashioned story.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.