The Magic Pocket: Selected Poems

A rich collection of fourteen works by an award-winning Japanese poet is presented in his native language, as well as an English translation, and includes delicate, imaginative illustrations.

PreSchool-Grade 3-A companion volume to The Animals (McElderry, 1992), also by the beloved Japanese children's poet Mado, with the same "production crew" as before and equally excellent results. The poems-"Chicks Climbing Up a Hill," "Song of an Umbrella," "Fingers," "Rabbit," and others-are about childlike things and will appeal even to the very young. Fanciful and delicate, they evoke simple images, images that Anno has realized with playful hand-painted paper collages in shades of soft mauve and gray. The beautiful layout matches the simplicity of the poetry; mauve borders frame the Japanese text on the left and the English translation on the right. All in all, a highly artistic effort.
Judith Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this companion volume to The Animals: Selected Poems, the Japanese and English versions of each of the 14 poems here appear on opposing pages, once again forming handsomely designed, unified spreads. However, the strengths of the earlier book?Mado's unexpected imagery, the spare restraint and elegance of the poems, the book's exquisite woodcuts?are lacking in this new volume. The subjects are playful and child-oriented, but many of the poems are written as if the poet were transcribing a toddler's conversation. In "Let's Play Together," for example, the two stanzas repeat, using first an elephant and then a bear: "Wouldn't it be nice/ If a baby elephant/ Came to my house,/ Saying, 'Let's play together.'/ Wouldn't it be nice,/ Mommy?" Another poem introduces day and night by saying "Good morning, good morning!/ The day breaks./ Daddy's up,/ Mommy's up,/ Brother's up,/ Sister's up,/ Baby's up./ Everyone's up./ Good morning, Sun!" then greets the night in reverse order, ending with "Good night, Moon!" A few poems deliver surprises by way of fresh metaphors or perspectives: a child is urged to climb to the top of the jungle gym and "Touch with your cheeks/ The chilly sky above"; an umbrella is "the world's/ Most chattering flower,/ Chattering now with hail,/ Chattering now with rain," accompanied by whimsical paper-collage images of inverted tulip parasols alongside the upright flowers. But despite Anno's softly transparent artwork and some perceptive moments in the poetry, this collection doesn't match the ingenuity of its predecessor. All ages.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Magic Pocket (32 pp.; $16.00; Nov. 1; 0-689-82137-9): Mado's second collection of poetry (The Animals, 1992) reflects with quiet intimacy children's relationship with the natural world, with lithe phrasing that is exquisitely pared down and precise. Minimal language conjures striking images``Umbrella, umbrella, The world's/Biggest flower.'' Anno's neutral-toned illustrations match the diminutive scale of the poems; hailstones with little faces, smiling fingernails in a row, happy acorns, and bounding rabbits decorate the pages. Both Japanese and English versions of the poems appear. (Picture book/poetry. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.