This multicultural children's book teaches kids about Japanese customs and culture with a fun story about a little boy. Kobo is a small Japanese boy whose father paints ema, or wishing pictures, for so many customers that he finds no time to paint a single one for his own family--not even for Kobo, who wants one so badly to take to the shrine on Wishing Day. As the customers come and go, Kobo has a chance to observe many types of people and to consider many different kinds of wishes, none of which seems quite right for him. In meeting Kobo and the many other interesting people in this book, the young reader is introduced to a number of the charming manners and customs of rural Japan, as well as to a number of situations that parallel those experienced by children almost everywhere. As the author expresses in her introduction: "In this book there are many pictures of ema. We hope that the wishes shown with them, along with the story of Kobo and his family, will bridge customs and culture through our children's seeing that the children of Japan have the same human feeling of affection, of rivalry, of sadness and joy."

This multicultural children's book tells a mythical Japanese tale about dragons and adventure. Tatsu wasn't a real dragon. Jiro and Zenji made him for a festival parade, out of bamboo hoops and cloth. But as soon as he was finished, he began to feel like a real dragon, even though he didn't have any wings. When the magic balloon man blew him up so he could slither around, and gave him a tin horn for a voice, Tatsu thought it was time for him to go out and rescue a beautiful maiden in distress. That was how he met Kiku and the wicked Chief Executioner; and how, in the end, he got his wings. Young readers can follow Tatsu on his adventures all over Japan, from the Fire Festival on an island in the Inland Sea (where he was mistaken for a fire demon), to the top of an erupting volcano, in an exciting story set in the authentic Japan of feudal times.

This multicultural children's story features unique Japanese watercolor illustrations that kids and parents will love. This is a picture-story of a lonely little Japanese girl, and her touching search for a friend. "Sometimes I'm kind of lonely because I don't have any brothers or sisters. Last night I dreamed I had a pet". Kei-chan searches the land for a new friend, any animal will do, birds, turtles, even butterflies. A Pet for Kei-chan is a very special book that reminds one that pets are everywhere, one only needs to look. Little girls in all lands love animals, and Kei-chan's fun adventure in Japan will be warmly received by all four to eight year olds.

This multicultural children's book contains legends and myths from the Eskimo people along with traditionally-drawn illustrations. The Singing House is where the Eskimos assembled in the ancient days to sing the songs that told the stories of why the raven is black or how the fog came to be. For without the means to record these tales, how else but through these songs were the succeeding generations to know of the past? These ancient Eskimo folk tales were once sung in the Singing House. They are full of enchanting magic and strange spells. As the storyteller sings his song and the shadows dance upon the walls, we learn of Ka-ha-si who holds up the world and causes earthquakes each time he changes his position to get a better grip. We hear, too, of how the sun was placed in the sky and why a certain mountain range resembles a dragon (some say it was a dragon once upon a time). The tales in this book are all authentic Eskimo legends passed down from generations past. They have a distinct native quality of the Eskimo, and like fairy tales and legends of other countries, they are overflowing in fanciful magic.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, p, e, i, t.