Sunday, May 22, 2011

Hopeful thinking

Niimi Nankichi (author)
Kuroi Ken (illustrator)
Judith Carol Huffman (translator)
Buying Mittens
University of Hawaii, 1999

Like a blanket of fresh snow, Kuroi Ken's soft, pastel images envelope the reader in a dreamy world. In this wintry dream world, the shape-shifting fox is not a threatening enchantress, but an innocent fox-child who suffers from cold paws. Its mother transforms one paw into a hand, and sends her babe to town with strict instructions to buy mittens. When the babe mistakenly shows its paw instead of its hand, humanity is put to a test. Will they or will they not choose to live in harmony with the fox?

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