Review by Booklist Review
This Japanese fairy tale tells of a childless peasant couple who, after wishing for a son, become the parents of a tiny boy, whom they name Issun Bôshi. Well loved at home, the boy grows older without growing larger. Still, at 15, he leaves home to seek adventure. In the forest, he meets an ogre who offers to reward him for stealing a nobleman's treasure. Issun Bôshi refuses, but he does seek out the nobleman and ends up running away with his beautiful daughter. Though the ogre later swallows Issun Bôshi, the tiny man cleverly defeats his larger opponent. Created with four-color intaglio printing, the striking, stylized illustrations make dynamic use of the limited, bright palette; simplified forms; and expressive details. Printed in rather small type on long, oversize pages, the lively text reads aloud well. There are few picture-book versions of this traditional tale, and children will enjoy the plucky hero and the vivid, eclectic illustrations.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"We'd like a little boy, any size at all,/ We'd like him little, we'd like him small," sing a childless couple; their wish is fulfilled by the arrival of a son who's one inch (issun) tall. Despite his size, Issun Boshi brings his parents joy, then sets off in search of his fortune, armed only with a rice bowl for shelter and a needle for protection. In the big city, crowds throng over an arched bridge; only boys and dogs notice the tiny figure. "Give me this little person, I beg you, he can read to me, sing me songs, and keep me company," a young noblewoman tells her father. When an ogre abducts the girl, Issun Boshi defeats him with his needle. Breathtaking silkscreenlike spreads created by the design collaborative Icinori (designers Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller) are the book's big draw; the artists use vermilion, warm yellow, and blue for bold, stylized images that pay homage to visual images of postwar Japan. Readalouds are complicated by the tiny type-just the right size, perhaps, for a one-inch boy to read. Ages 3-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This classic Japanese folktale about a couple who wish for a little boy and find themselves the parents of a child who measures a mere inch has been retold in collections and as a single narrative in picture-book format many times. Issun Bôshi fails to grow in stature, but he is brave and determined and sets out into the world with a needle serving as his samurai sword and a rice bowl for his boat. He finds a place at court, is swallowed by an ogre, pricks the monster's stomach, and escapes capture. The story is so beloved that it has influenced television shows and video games. This retelling is illustrated in accomplished four-color prints in hues that range from vivid to lurid. The graphic composition is powerful, but the bold, posterlike aesthetic might be more impressive to adults than to children. Every children's library should have a version of Issun Bôshi in its folklore collection, however, and there is only one other picture book edition widely available at this time. If a replacement copy is needed, this one is a reasonable choice.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Action and character take a back seat to the art in this tersely retold version of the Japanese "Tom Thumb."The story, presented in blocks of small type surrounded by acres of white or monochrome space, minimizes specific cultural or place markers but sticks to the standard plotline. In "a country far away," a peasant couple sees a wish fulfilled with the birth of a tiny lad who later sets out for adventure. On the way to a city, he meets an ogre who promises to use a magic hammer to give him full height in exchange for a certain "beautiful treasure." Issun demurs, then goes on to become playmate for a nobleman's daughter. She, after he rescues her from the ogre and uses the hammer on himself to grow, takes "a different view of Issun Bshi," so that "their story is not yet over." The illustrations are as allusive as this final linealternating stylized landscapes with scenes of theatrically posed figures clad in a mix of Japanese and Western dress and ending not with a view of the principals but a generic assemblage of items from earlier pictures. Looking like a series of screen or woodblock prints, the dazzling art features broad, opaque layers of high-contrast orange, blue and yellow with combed or rubbed portions to give the flat surfaces shading and texture. A classic underdog tale frequently outshone by the strong shapes and intense colors that each page turn brings into view. (Picture book/folk tale. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
