Sora and the Cloud
This warm picture book captures the physicality of imaginative play that gets wilder and wilder, and preschoolers will recognize the fun of crawling and climbing over everything, as well as the big dreams of flying in the sky. Each page features both a simple, graceful English text and a translation in Japanese, while the handsome ink, watercolor, and colored-paper artwork extends the story of young Sora, who loves to scale people, furniture, and everything else in his path. Then he moves to the playground and climbs a tree before floating up to the sky, trying out a cloud (“Ahhh, so soft and fluffy!”), and looking down on everything, including an exciting amusement park, flying kites, and a monster airplane. Finally, Sora and the cloud drift gently to earth. The small kid in a giant world is a universal story, and Hoshino also weaves in particulars of Japanese culture, including detailed notes at the back in both alphabets. Preschool. --Hazel Rochman